With increased levels of migration and advancements in digital communication technologies, the world continues to see the movement of people, and of such ideas, across the globe. Migration flows in previous decades have been largely concentrated from the global South to the global North.With increased migration, notions and ideas to do with citizenship continue to be contested and re-negotiated both within the host countries and within the countries of origin. However, these notions are seldom gendered.

This conference seeks to address this gap by exploring these contested ideas through a gendered lens. The focus will be on ‘bringing gender back in’ to discourses on migration that centre on the theme of citizenship, identity and belonging and how these continue to be re-defined and re-negotiated in the global South and the global North.

The project will have relevance for not only feminist scholars who work on the global South, but policy-makers at regional and international levels as well.

Conference Programme

Please note that times are in BST.

09:00hrs- 09:15hrs: Welcome & Introduction

09:15hrs- 10:00hrs: Spotlighting young and emerging scholars- Talk by Dr. Kudakwashe Vanyoro (Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the African Centre for Migration and Society (ACMS), University of the Witwatersrand)

10:00hrs- 11:30hrs: Panel 1- Intersectional Perspectives: Gender, Religion, and Migration

Panellists:

Dr. Rachel Larkin (University of Kent, Canterbury)- ‘Girls navigating girlhood in youth migration’

Dr. Sophia Chirongoma and Professor Ezra Chitando (University of Zimbabwe)- ‘On a wing and a prayer: faith as a resource in Zimbabwean women’s journeys of hope’

Ms. Glory Oluwaseun (University of Kent, Canterbury)- ‘Faith the foundation and the filter: the ambivalent relationship between faith, culture and feminism in the lives of Nigerian women living in Britain’

11:30hrs- 13:00hrs: Panel 2- The Plight of Women: Trafficking, Slavery, and Economic Refugees

Panellists:

Ms. Judith Onwubiko (University of Kent, Canterbury)- ‘Engendered push factors of human trafficking in Edo State, Nigeria’

Dr. Lucy Williams (University of Kent, Brussels)- ‘Challenging the construction of women as victims of trafficking, smuggling and slavery- lessons from African Women in Turkey’

13:00hrs-13:30hrs: LUNCH BREAK

13:30hrs-15:00hrs: Panel 3- The Two-Pronged Role of Migration in Re-Defining Citizenship, Subjecthood and Belonging through A Gendered Lens

Panellists:

Dr. Kuzi Zigomo (University of Kent, Canterbury)- ‘Transnational Pentecostalism, political femininities and citizenship in Zimbabwe’

Dr. Henrietta Nyamnjoh (University of Cape Town, South Africa)- ‘Truncated belonging in times of marital crisis among the Ethiopian female migrants in South Africa’

15:00hrs-16:30hrs: Panel 4- Opportunities for (Re)-Engagement: International Legislation, Policy-Making, and Humanitarian Intervention

Panellists:

Ms. Hazel Ebenezer (University of Kent, Brussels)- ‘Dowry and Dowry-Based Violence in India and Indian Diasporas’

Professor Yutaka Arai-Takahashi (University of Kent, Brussels)- ‘Sexual and Gender-Based Violence against African refugees and migrants in Libyan detention centres- critiques of how the International Criminal Court has been overlooking gendered and intersectional dimensions of crimes against humanity’

16:30hrs-16:45hrs: Concluding Remarks & Next Steps!