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Book of Abstracts
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies
(WCWS 2018)
03 – 05, May 2018
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Committee of the WCWS - 2018
The International Institute of Knowledge Management (TIIKM)
Tel: +94(0) 11 3132827
ii
Disclaimer
The responsibility for opinions expressed in articles, studies and other contributions in this
publication rests solely with their authors, and this publication does not constitute an
endorsement by the WCWS or TIIKM of the opinions so expressed in them.
Official website of the conference
www.womenstudies.co
Book of Abstracts of the 4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Edited by Prof. Diana J. Fox
ISBN 978-955-4903-98-2
Copyright @ 2018 TIIKM
All rights are reserved according to the code of intellectual property act of Sri Lanka,
2003
Published by The International Institute of Knowledge Management (TIIKM), No:
531/18, Kotte Road, Pitakotte,10100, Sri Lanka
Tel: +94(0) 11 3098521
Fax: +94(0) 11 2873371
iii
Hosting Partner:
Bridgewater State University, USA
Academic Partners:
Nepal Centre for Contemporary Research (NCCR), Nepal
Rikkyo University, Japan
Organized By:
The International Institute of Knowledge Management (TIIKM), Sri Lanka
PROF. DIANA J. FOX (Conference Chair, WCWS 2018)
Professor and Chairperson, Department of
Anthropology, Journal of International Women’s
Studies, Bridgewater State University, USA
DR. JINKY LEILANIE LU (Keynote Speaker, WCWS 2018)
Research Professor, National Institutes of
Health, University of the Philippines Manila,
Philippines
MS. CHAYMAE SAMIR (Keynote Speaker, WCWS 2018)
Entrepreneur I Columnist, United Kingdom
MS. SENELA JAYASURIYA-ABEYNAIKE (Invited Speaker, WCWS 2018)
Founder & CEO of Women Empowered Global
ASST. PROF. MADHAVI VENKATESAN (Plenary Speaker, WCWS 2018)
Bridgewater State University, USA
DR. SUBESHINI MOODLEY (Session Chair, WCWS 2018)
Nelson Mandela University, South Africa
PROF. MASUE KATO (Session Chair, WCWS 2018)
Rikkyo University, Japan
DR. MELISSA TOMBRO (Session Chair, MEDCOM 2018)
The State University of New York, USA
PROF. DR. MIRA SONNTAG (Session Chair, WCWS 2018)
Rikkyo University, Japan
WCWS 2018 Committee
iv
DR. URMISHREE BEDAMATTA (Session Chair, WCWS 2018)
Ravenshaw University, India
DR. SUMI DAA-DHORA (Session Chair, WCWS 2018)
Assam University Diphu Campus, India
DR. KALYANI VALLATH (Session Chair, WCWS 2018)
Total English Solutions (TES) Trivandrum, India
DR. ENAV FRIEDMANN (Session Chair, WCWS 2018)
University of Bar Ilan, Israel
PROF. JULIE CWIKEL (Session Chair, WCWS 2018)
University of Bar Ilan, Israel
DR. HELEN JAQUELINE MCLAREN (Session Chair, WCWS 2018)
Flinders University, Australia
DR. MARIANNA VARGAS DE FREITAS CRUZ LEITE (Session Chair, WCWS 2018)
University of Coimbra, Portugal
PROF. ANTONIA NAVARRO TEJER (Session Chair, WCWS 2018)
University of Cordoba, Spain
DR. SUDESHNA GHOSH (Session Chair, WCWS 2018)
Scottish Church College, India
DR. BONITA HAMPTON (Session Chair, WCWS 2018)
SUNY Oswego, USA
DR. QURAT UL AIN (Session Chair, WCWS 2018)
University of Gujrat, Pakistan
DR. SYAZLIANA ASTRAH (Session Chair, WCWS 2018)
Ministry of Women, Malaysia
DR. REKHA MAHADEV (Session Chair, WCWS 2018)
Nelson Mandela University, South Africa
PROF. NIDHI ARORA (Session Chair, WCWS 2018)
Banasthali Vidyapith, India
v
MR. ISANKA. P. GAMAGE (Conference Convener, WCWS 2018)
The International Institute of Knowledge
Management, Sri Lanka
MR. OSHADEE WITHANAWASAM (Conference Publication Chair, WCWS 2018)
The International Institute of Knowledge
Management, Sri Lanka
MR. KEERTHI CHANDANA (Conference Secretariat, WCWS 2018)
The International Institute of Knowledge
Management, Sri Lanka
Editorial Board-ICOM 2013
Editor in Chief
Prof. Diana J. Fox, Professor and Chairperson, Department of Anthropology, Journal of International Women’s
Studies, Bridgewater State University, USA
The Editorial Board is not responsible for the content of any research paper
Dr. Agata Stepien, Indevol International Research Group, Germany
Dr. Shermal Wijewardene, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka
Dr. Swarna Ukwatta, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka
Prof. I.M.K. Liyanage, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka
Asst. Prof. Hsiao-Wen Cheng, University of Pennsylvania, USA
Prof. Jill Bystydzienski, The Ohio State University, USA
Dr. G.P. Acharya, Nepal Center for Contemporary Research, Nepal
Dr. Bishnu Raj Upreti, Nepal Center for Contemporary Research, Nepal
Prof. U.I. Shiori, Graduate School of Christian Studies, Rikkyo University, Japan
Asst. Prof. Teresita G. Villamor Barrameda, University of the Philippines, Philippines
Asst. Prof. Madhavi Venkatesan, Bridgewater State University, USA
Dr. Bishnu Raj Upreti, Nepal Centre for Contemporary Research, Nepal
Dr. Lai Suat, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia
Dr. Ameer Sultana, Panjab University, India
Dr. Tina Escaja, University of Vermont, USA
Prof. Dr. Mira Sonntag, Rikko University, Japan
Editorial Board - WCWS 2018
Scientific Committee - WCWS 2018
vi
Dr. Annal Tandukar, Nepal Centre for Contemporary Research, Nepal
Prof. Grace Wamue-Ngare, Kenyatta University, India
Dr. Ponmalar N. Alagappar, University of Malaya, Malaysia
Dr. Rowena A. Laguilles, University of Philippines, Philippines
Dr. Rachana Pandey, Vasanta College for Women, India
Dr. Aradhana Vaidaya, Bharatiya Mahavidyalaya, India
Dr. Ramzan Shahid, University of Gujrat, Pakistan
Dr. Aziz Bin Shafie, University of Malaya, Malaysia
Dr. S.P. Srimathi, NMKRV College for Women, India
Dr. Snehalatha G. Nadiger, NMKRV College for Women, India
Dr. Mangal Gouri V. Manvade, NMKRV College for Women, India
Dr. Manjari Shukla, Vasanta College for Women, India
Dr. Abhishek Mishra, Institute of Management Studies, India
Dr. Shipra Gupta, Panjab University, India
Prof. Nishi Mitra, Advanced Centre for Women’s Studies, India
Prof. Tanusree Paul, Visva-Bharati, India
vii
MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR WCWS 2018
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Anthropology Department
Greetings and welcome to Colombo, Sri Lanka and to the Fourth, World Conference on
Women’s Studies.
It is with great pleasure that I serve as conference chair for the third time for the World
Conference on Women’s Studies, organized by The International Institute of Knowledge
Management (TIIKM). Bridgewater State University, my home institution, is honored to be a
hosting partner. I attended the second and third conferences in Colombo in 2016 and 2017,
for which I also served as conference chair. The 2018 conference, like the previous one, is in
part shaped by observations and insights from the previous conferences, and we are pleased
to offer some additional features to the regular panels for the event. 1) The World Conference
on Women’s Studies (WCWS) Forum: “Women’s Economic Empowerment and Increasing
Leadership Opportunities”. This is a panel of scholar-activists who will address key
challenges and potential solutions for gender equality via economic and leadership
opportunities, both within Sri Lankan and wider global contexts; 2) A publishing workshop to
encourage submissions to partnering journals; and 3) A youth forum where we can learn from
local youth about challenges they face an and to encourage awareness of gender and women’s
issues.
As with last year, this year we also look forward to a stimulating and provocative conference,
one that challenges our ideas, builds our connections with one another, and invigorates us in
our work. The theme, Women’s Studies: Gendered Scholarship, Activism, and
Storytelling for a Sustainable Planet, promises to help us achieve these goals by
highlighting the current challenges we face in building resilient local, regional, and global
women’s movements that respond to the increasing pressures of climate change. Women’s
stories are critical in this endeavor.
viii
I want to thank TIIKM on behalf of all conference participants, for organizing the conference,
juggling all the logistical details including the hotel, meals, program, and other features of the
conference planning. This group of sharp thinking, energetic, and hopeful conference
organizers continue to add to the human story through their innovative conference themes,
tackling the most difficult, persistent, and pressing topics of our times, bringing scholars,
activists, policymakers, educators, artists and others together from across the region and the
planet.
Please take every opportunity during the conference to engage with one another, to discuss
your ideas for research, writing and practice. I also hope that you take some time to explore
Colombo in all its vibrancy. Welcome to the conference!
Conference Chair WCWS 2018,
Diana J. Fox,
Professor and Chairperson,
Anthropology Department,
Bridgewater State University,
USA.
ix
Table of Contents Page No
A1 01 Women Empowerment on Their Rights towards Social Position:
Voice of Plantation Women
T. Kalaimagal and S. Dayaratne
03
A2 02 Change of Females’ Farming Life through CPEC: An Instance of
Town Qadira Bad (Nearby Coal Power Plant Project of CPEC)
K. Niazi, H. Guoqiang, S. Khan, T.M. Awan and N. Baig
04
A3 03 Examining Women Potters in Kutahya the Leading Ceramic Center
O.A. Yuksel
05
B1 04 Christian Feminism in Japan – The Case of Mukôkai (Churchless
Christianity)
C. Yatabe
06
B2 05 0
2
“Family-Centrism” in Japanese Churches: Heterosexism, Patriarchy,
and the Japanese Imperial System
M. Kudo
07
B3 06 Christian Feminism in Japan
M. Sonntag
08
B4 07 Gender Discrimination and Women’s Rights: A Comparative
Analysis with Ancient Brahman Thoughts, Buddhist Philosophy and
Human Rights Law
D.M.N.M. Jayarathna
09
ORAL PRESENTATIONS
WOMEN, RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY (B)
RURAL WOMEN, LIVELIHOODS AND AGRICULTURE (A)
x
C1 08 Ethical Issues in Advertising: Framing of Women in Taboo
Advertisements in Pakistan
T. Anwar and J. Mazahir
10
C2 09 “Deval Chaaran Who Makes the Story Happen in the Epic of
Pabuji”
S. Shukla
11
C3 10 Sri Lanka’s Contemporary Women Artists: Representing the Female
Body (Re-appropriation of Gender Biased Images)
M-D. Gil
12
D1 11 Protection of Women Hygiene and the Laws of War: A Critical
Analysis
E.K. Pandian and M.Z.K. Khan
13
D2 12 Retelling Conflict: Lives and Narratives of Women in Northeast
India
S. Daa-dhora
14
D3 13 ‘From Innocent Victims to Dangerous Elements’? The Rising Trend
of Female Suicide Bombers in Northeast Nigeria
R. Buba
15
D4 14 Violence as a Site of Women’s Agency in War: The Representation
of Female Militants in Sri Lanka’s Post-War Literature
T.N.K. Meegaswatta
16
PORTRAYAL AND REPRESENTATIONS OF AND BY WOMEN (C)
CONFLICT, WAR AND ARMED STRUGGLE (D)
xi
E1 15 Women Write New York City
M. Tombro
17
E2 16 Sacks of Mutilated Breasts: Violence and Body Politics in Partition
Literature
N-T. Antonia
18
E3 17 Eco-Feminism and Indian Literature
P. Pandya
19
E4 18 Portrayal of Lesbian Characters in Fictional Narratives: An Analysis
Using Adrienne Rich’s Concept of Lesbian Continuum and
Existence
M. Moses
20
E5 19 The ‘Scholar as Activist’: Postcolonial Feminist Film Practice as a
Tool for Social, Development, Empowerment and Resistance
S. Moodley
21
E6 20 Gender Analysis in Kokkilai Lagoon Region
B.J. Rasanen
22
E7 21 Deconstructing Theory-Practice: Re-Thinking Methodology
S. Kriti
23
E8 22 Biology as Politics in Gender Significations: a Study of Tony
Morrison’s The Bluest Eyes
S.M. Vanamala
24
F1 23 An Insight to Women in Construction for Fostering Female Careers
in Sri Lankan Construction Industry
V. Srivishagan and R. Thalpage
25
WOMEN, WORK AND RIGHTS (F)
THE NATURE OF RESEARCH AND WRITING BY AND ABOUT WOMEN (E)
xii
F2 24 Pluralizing Discourses: Multinationals and Gender Equality
M.V.F.C. Leite
26
F3 25 Eradication of Pregnancy Discrimination & Institution of Gender
Equality in the Work Place: A Legal Perspective
S.A. Caygill
27
F4 26 Strengthening and Empowerment of Women Participation in
Informal Women Entrepreneurship in Northern Province of Sri
Lanka (Sustainable Entrepreneurship)
V. Sinnathamby and J.S. Paramananthan
28
F5 27 Social Enterprise and Women's Empowerment: Case Studies from
India
S. Kumar
30
F6 28 Exploration of Workplace Sexual Harassment through the
Dimensions of Social Class and Race
R.J. Abeywardena
31
F7 29 The Influence of Gender on Entrepreneurial Skill and
Entrepreneurial Intention among Youth in Sri Lanka
P. Pretheeba and S. Vijayapala
32
F8 30 Perspective of Women’s Role & Gender Equality Issue in
Engineering Based Company (A Study in Mhe-Demag Branches
Located in Indonesia, Malaysia & Singapore)
P. Victor
33
F9 31 Women as Social Entrepreneurs: Opportunities, Challenges
K. Vallath
34
F10 32 Woman as an Image in War Propaganda Posters
E.E.K. Bog
35
xiii
G1 33 Domestic Violence against Women in Bangladesh: An Analysis
from Criminological Perspectives
K.F. Rahman
36
G2 34 The Taboo of Sex within Gender Based Violence: Localising the
Gender and Development Paradigm in Cambodia
E.C. Robertson
37
G3 35 Gender-Based Violence in Extreme Settings: Remoteness,
Resistance, and Recovery
A. Ahmad, J. Mannell and G. Shannon
38
G4 36 Domestic Violence: Public Reactions and Strategic Interventions
S.A.M. Idris, N.F.M. Nizar, K.A. Rasip, N.N.A. Aziz and R.K.R.M.
Khalid
39
G5 37 Action Research: Survey on Sexual Harassment at the Nallur
Temple Festival, Jaffna, Sri Lanka, August 2017
S. Selvaratnam
40
G6 38 A Climate of Gendered Violence: Intersectional Identities and
Politics of Discrimination against Women
D. Saksena
41
G7 39 Tales from the Inner Quarters: How a Queen Mother Avenges Her
Daughter’s Murder and Other Stories of Eastern India
U. Bedamatta
42
G8 40 Honor Killings in Modern Arab Literature: Fact and Fiction
O. Amin
43
G9 41 Constructing and Deconstructing Socio-Cultural Discourses for Help
Seeking after Domestic Violence
S. Rasool
44
G10 42 Sexual Harassment on Repayment of Loans in Women
Entrepreneurship; Case Study from War-Torn Areas in Sri Lanka
S. Vijayapala and S.P. Jebewathani
45
FORMS OF GENDERED AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE (G)
xiv
H1 43 HIV/AIDS Stigma: Kenyan Women Tell Their Stories
B. Hampton
46
H2 44 Socio-Psychological Aspects of Women
A.J.L. Maray and C. Priyadharsini
47
H3 45 Prospective Memory and Its Gender Differences
C.M. Chandrika and B.W.D. Raja
48
H4 46 Lives (in) Between
A. Mishra, A. Kumar, N. Kapoor, R. Kapoor, A. Sengupta, A.
Mishra and A. Singh
49
H5 47 Socio-Cultural Study of Heroin Using Female Sex Workers in the
City of Colombo
S.L. Abeysekera
50
J1 48 Malleability of Gender Roles and Spatial Transformation of
Nelibewa, Sri Lanka
K. Herath
51
J2 49 Padmaavat, Honour and Jauhar: A Discourse on Cultural Feminism
and Movie Industry in India
W.A.H.C.M. Perera
52
J3 50 Civic Engagement and Political Participation Trends amongst
Female Students in Pakistani Universities: View from Lahore
M. Mirza and J. Hussain
53
EXPLORING GENDER DYNAMICS ACROSS MULTIPLE SECTORS OF
SOCIETY (J)
WOMEN, HEALTH AND ILLNESS (H)
xv
J4 51 Women Academic Leaders in Higher Education in Pakistan:
Perspectives of Female Students Enrolled in Higher Education
Degrees
A.J. Khokhar
54
J5 52 Women Empowerment, Education and Transformation: A Case
Study of Pakistan
S. Muneer
55
J6 53 The Undefeated Monster of Hegemonic Masculinity in Hunter’s
Run
P. Fišerová
56
J7 54 Gendered Life Choice and Gendered Success: Case Studies of
Nepali Women Migrants in Japan
M. Tanaka
57
J8 55 Widows and Concubines: Tradition and Deviance in the Women of
Kanthapura
M.E.P. Ranmuthugala
58
K1 56 Trends in Contraceptive Use Some Experiences from India and Her
Neighbouring Countries
S. Ghosh
59
K2 57 Choosing Permanent Contraceptive Methods: Sri Lankan Women’s
Experiences Under the Shadows of Patriarchy and Paternalism
N. Mendis and H. Rathnamalala
60
K3 58 Women and Access to Family Planning Women’s Right to Decide:
A Distant Reality in India
S. Chauhan
61
K4 59 A Study on Impact of Increased Access to Family Planning on
Fertility and Health among Rural Women at Tamil Nadu, India
T. Murugesan and K.R. Murugan
62
REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS AND HEALTHCARE (K)
xvi
L1 60 The Acts of Silence and the Secrets We Keep: Youth Disrupting a
Culture of Concealment
R. Mahadev and N. de Lange
63
L2 61 Women Trafficking: A Study of Its Impact towards Empowerment
N. Arora
64
L3 62 Prioritizing the Women’s Voice on Matters Affecting Them:
Interventions with Domestically Violent Men
H.J. McLaren, J. Fischer and L. Zannettino
65
L4 63 Silent Protests and Silent Power: How Women Use Silence as a
Form of Agency
G.J. Gatwiri
66
M1 64 Advancing Widespread Rape as Jus Cogens Norm
A. Alexander
67
M2 65 A Critical Study on Hindu Woman’s Right to Property and to
Divorce: Bangladesh Perspective
R. Khatun and F. Abedin
68
M3 66 Gender Equality and Decent Work for Female Sex Workers in
Jamaica
R.M. Mitchell
69
PATRIARCHY, POWER, AND RESISTANCE (L)
WOMEN, GENDER AND THE LAW (M)
xvii
N1 67 Women Adaptation Responses to Climate Change and Poverty in
Zimbabwe: A Case of Bindura District
L. Musevenzo
70
N2 68 Participation and Voice of Women in Community-Based
Organization (A Special Reference to Mathagal East Rural Water
Supply)
C. Balachandran
71
N3 69 The Dynamics of Gender and Development: A Jamaican Perspective
I.O. Boxill and D.K. Fletcher
72
Q1 70 Single Women and Changing Values: Contesting Institution of
Marriage
S. Awasthi and S. Sharma
73
Q2 71 The Practice of Surrogacy in Sri Lanka: A Dilemma between Bodily
Autonomy, Law and Culture
A.H.M.D.L. Abeyrathna
74
Q3 72 Intersectionality and Child Marriage: A Perspective on Sri Lanka
S. Ravi
75
Q4 73 Rethinking Violence, Understanding Domesticity
A. Sinha
76
MARRIAGE, MOTHERS AND WIVES (Q)
GENDER, CLIMATE CHANGE, DISASTERS AND SUSTAINABILITY (N)
xviii
R1 74 The Marketing of Female "She-Agra": Men and Women's
Perspectives on Women's Sexual Desire
E. Friedmann and J. Cwikel
77
R2 75 The Hidden Identity: Exploring Experiences of One of the Youngest
Transgender Woman in India
A. Chawla
78
R3 76 Psychosocial Intervention for Jamaican Teen Moms: What Does
Gender Have to Do With It?
T.A. McFarlane
79
R4 77 The Gender Symbolism Process is a Women’s Empowerment Tool:
A case of Electronic Resources Awareness Trainings for Uptake in
Ugandan Public Universities
R. Nsibirano
80
S1 78 Women in Peace Politics of Nepal: Struggles and Success
B.R. Upreti
81
S2 79 Sexual Violence and State Responses: A Case Study of the Delhi
Gang Rape Case of December 2012, Lessons for the Post-Colonial
Context
P. Bakshi
82
S3 80 Challenge and Response: A Case Study of Benazir Bhutto Prime
Ministerships
Q.A. Bashir, M.R. Shahid and M.D. Mohabbat
83
S4 81 Female Participation and the National Decision Making on Women
Issues in Pakistan: Comparative Analyses of Post 2002 Scenario
R.Z. Malik
84
SEXUALITY AND GENDER DIVERSITY (R)
WOMEN, POLITICAL PROCESS AND THE STATE (S)
xix
S5 82 'Stories for Purpose' Using Documentary Film and Participatory
Forums in Program Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting
S.L. Rooney-Harding
85
P1 83 Hopping Hurdles: Research in Women’s and Gender & Sexuality
Studies
S.A. Howard
89
P2 84 Women in Japanese Contemporary Art
K. Masue
90
85 Khadija: The Caravan Owner
M. Meilleur
93
86 Sexual Diversity and Gender Identity in Sri Lankan Perspective
with Special Reference to Rights and Position of Sexual Minorities
in Criminal Justice System of Sri Lanka
A.H. Wijayath
94
87 “Things That Cannot be Said”: A Visual Work to Reflect about
Urban Freedom and Women
C. Roselli
95
88 The Working Women Taboo: A Qualitative Study by Syrian
Refugee Women
Z. Karadsheh
96
89 The Effects of Husband’s Alcohol Consumption and Women’s
Empowerment on Domestic Violence in India: Insights from
NFHS-4
A. Parekh
97
VIRTUAL PRESENTATIONS
POSTER PRESENTATIONS (P)
xx
90 Bracketing Educational Technology and Gender Perspective in the
University Context
V.S. Nirban, T. Shukla and D. Dosaya
98
91 Women’s Sports in India : A Feminist Review
M. Mondal
99
92 Gender and Security – Women Military Service in Social
Perspective – History, Present, Law, Communication
B. Drapikowska
100
93 Gender Identity and Leader Self-awareness: A Research on Chinese
University Female Student Leaders
Y. Wang
101
94 Exploring the Gender Digital Divide: Connecting ICT and Women
Entrepreneurship
T. Shukla and V.S. Nirban
102
95 Understanding Masculinity in Pastoral Communities in Northern
Kenya
J.J. Kottutt
103
96 Re-Narrating the Self
S. Bhat
104
97 Is there an Outside to the Closet?
S. Bhat
105
98 Traversing the Cracks in the Empowerment Narrative
U. Sinha
106
99 Women and Institutional Representation :Trend or Paradigm Shifts
M. Kaushik
107
100 The Role of Researcher’s Positionality in the Creation of
Knowledge
F. Tayyab
108
xxi
101 “Representations of Women’s Role in Pakistan: A Critical Analysis
through Drama Serials”
A. Fatima
109
102 Socio-Cultural Inertia and Women’s Vulnerability: A Case Study
on Sanitation Practices
R. Ramesh and R.R. Bhavani
110
103 An Inclusive Grassroots Approach for the Post-Feminist Era: A
Case Study of Sri Lanka
S. De Visser
111
104 Who Perpetrates Violence on Own Spouses? Evidence from India
B. Thomas, H.P. Trivedi, R. Subhash and S.N. Pathak
112
105 Revisiting the Terms of the Patriarchal Bargain: Exploring the
Gender Politics of Household Money Management in Rural Nepal
L. Gram, J. Skordis-Worrall, J. Mannell, G. Shannon, D.
Manandhar , N. Saville and J. Morrison
113
106 Gender Consideration in Admittance of Reproductive Health
Facilities in Pakistan
S. Akram, R.N. Alam and N. Li
114
107 Empowering South Asian Women through Accessible Education–
Achievements of Bangladesh
H. Barua
115
108 Filling Up the Gaps between Formal and Informal Women: Law
Reforms for the Development of the Status of Sri Lankan Domestic
Working Women
J.A.I. Kumarasinghe
116
109 Secularism, Democracy and Women’s Rights: India in a Global
Context
S.B. Banerjee
117
xxii
110 “I’m Not Your Dalit”; Issues of Identity and Solidarity
J. Brunnekreef
118
111 Early Marriage: Prospects of Schoolgirls
N.R. Bhandari
119
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 3
A1 [01]
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT ON THEIR RIGHTS TOWARDS SOCIAL POSITION:
VOICE OF PLANTATION WOMEN
T. Kalaimagal and S. Dayaratne
Freelance Researchers, Sri Lanka
ABSTRACT
In the year 2017, tea plantation of Sri Lanka has passed a remarkable milestone in an agricultural
industry as it contributes one of the major portion for country’s economic development. 150 years
history of Plantation Tamil Women in the tea plantation were at the center of production and margins
of economic, political and social life. Rights and empowerment are complimentary to each other lead
to derive close linkage to determine the freedom of thinking and upward mobility of Women and this
is not an exemption to plantation women. Although the Sri Lankan Constitution of 1978, the
CEDAW and co-treaties of UN promote the women’s rights in Sri Lanka, women in plantation areas
are still been subject to various women rights violations and lacks political, social and economic
empowerment. The objective of this short documentary highlights “how plantation women
comprehend Rights and Empowerment in their work place, household and social life?” Ability of
influence on major factors affected could lead to change the plantation women on their social
position. Some Statement and case studies will brings the expressions of women on deep rooted
patriarchal cultural values, rigid and cruel regulations of estate management of plantation, trade union
and political influences towards their social position. Propose attentions to government, trade unions,
and civil society organizations to take appropriate Affirmative Action to empower and educate
plantation women to improve their social position, implement locally and accepted by nationally and
internationally.
Keywords: plantation women, women's' rights, violation, empowerment, and affirmative action
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 4
A2 [02]
CHANGE OF FEMALES’ FARMING LIFE THROUGH CPEC: AN INSTANCE OF
TOWN QADIRA BAD (NEARBY COAL POWER PLANT PROJECT OF CPEC)
K. Niazi1, H. Guoqiang1, S. Khan2, T.M. Awan3 and N. Baig4
1 School of Sociology and Anthropology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
2School of Finance, Zhongnan University Economics and Law, Wuhan, China
3 Department of Management Sciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology,
Islamabad, Pakistan
4Collage of Public Administration, (HUST) Hua Zhong University of Science and
Technology, Wuhan, China
ABSTRACT
The paper focuses on change of females’ farming life through the construction of “Coal Power Plant
Project” via China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiative located in Qadira Bad, Punjab,
Pakistan (A small town in province Punjab of Pakistan). Coal Power plant is one of the energy power
plants which is being built on people agricultural lands, so it tends to influence the people’s lives
belong to farming profession. Precisely, this study deals with specific females lives who are involved
in the farming along with their male partners on their lands. We conduct a field survey and gather data
through snowball sampling, judgmental sampling, and case studied methods. We observe that through
the development of this coal power plant, their farming lands have been occupied, so to make their
living, some of them began to work in rich people houses as maids and rest of them adopted the
tailoring profession in their homes on a very small scale, which in turn reward them with small
amount of wages. So, this study reveals how these developmental actions influence the female’s
prestige, social identity and economy. Given these major social changes, the status and power of
women gradually declined as well.
Keywords: CPEC, coal power plant, female’ farming, social identity, economic class disparities,
agricultural lands, developmental projects
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 5
A3 [03]
EXAMINING WOMEN POTTERS IN KUTAHYA THE LEADING CERAMIC
CENTER
O.A. Yuksel
Fine Arts Faculty Ceramic Glass Department, Dumlupinar University, Turkey
ABSTRACT
Kütahya, one of the most important ceramic production centers, in the world and Turkey, has been
continues to produce hand painted decorated tiles and ceramics since 13th century. Today many hand
painted underglaze Kutahya ceramics and tiles take places in many museums all over the World.
Kutahya with remarkable numbers of ceramic studios has very old ceramic history since Ottoman
times. In these studios many woman potters, who have great influence for ceramic producing
development and stability, have been employed. It is very important point that most of woman potters
in Kutahya are uneducated, but the rooted ceramic traditions in the city involve and educate them
easily. This research will show detailed of the Kutahya women potters including their achievements
and the common roles of the ceramic producing process. These roles of women potters will overview
in a frame of biographical and historical inputs by their relationship that continues with their ceramic
traditions which was inherited from generation to generation. The presentation will demonstrate to all
detailed images of woman potters ceramic and tiles producing process and also interviews about their
lives, and professional, artistic developments.
Keywords: ceramic center, Kutahya tiles, woman potters
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 6
B1 [04]
CHRISTIAN FEMINISM IN JAPAN – THE CASE OF MUKÔKAI (CHURCHLESS
CHRISTIANITY)
C. Yatabe
Graduate School of Christian Studies, Rikkyo University, Japan
ABSTRACT
This paper explores contemporary approaches to practical faith and activism as held by Christian
women belonging to the Japanese minority movement ,“Churchless Christianity”(Mukyôkai).
It introduces the thought of its founder Kanzô Uchimura (1861-1930) as well as its women’s project
called “Speaking from a woman’s perspective.”Uchimura was a prominent evangelist and pacifist
whose thoughts and biblical commentary had a strong impact on young intellectuals in modern Japan.
With Uchimura’s samurai heritage, the group formed around him was and rocentric and activities of
women were overshadowed by distinguished male members, even though 100-200 women (out of
total 600-800) constantly participated in Uchimura’s Sunday lectures in the early 20th century.
Uchimura called on women to be “modest” and follow men at home, and on men to be “Christian
gentlemen.” On the other hand, to follow the Lord was seen as the ideal attitude of man and woman.
Uchimura taught the same Bible messages to all equally and did not particularly forbid women to
receive higher education. In such a complex religious environment, female members became visible
only quite recently when the word “feminism” started to prevail in society. The above mentioned
project started 1991 and has amazingly spotlighted women’s outstanding works in various professions
and/or activities. Its target gradually expanded to members of other Christian churches and the general
public. This paper introduces some of their stories and analyzes, how the women’s religious
background affected their insights. Additionally, the masculinity taught by Uchimura is questioned
from the viewpoint of women’s empowerment.
Keywords: Christianity in Japan, feminist activism, dialogue, masculinity
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 7
B2 [05]
“FAMILY-CENTRISM” IN JAPANESE CHURCHES: HETEROSEXISM,
PATRIARCHY, AND THE JAPANESE IMPERIAL SYSTEM
M. Kudo
Rikkyo University, Japan
ABSTRACT
Many Christian churches around the world have experienced internal conflicts over the issue of
homosexuality for the last few decades. What, then, is the situation of Christian churches in Japan in
respect of the diversity of gender and sexuality? What questions do Japanese feminists and queer
theologians raise in relation to this issue these days? In order to answer the above questions, I would
like to introduce and examine some important arguments made by the Japanese queer theologian
Horie Yuri. Horie is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ in Japan (UCCJ), the largest
Protestant denomination in Japan. She is also an openly “lesbian” scholar and activist. In her works,
Horie has repeatedly pointed out that homophobia, misogyny, and heterosexism are still very strong in
Japanese churches. Through her activism as well as scientific works, Horie tries to reveal the
repressive structure of Japanese churches and articulate concrete problems. I will focus on the issue of
“family-centrism” in Japanese churches as well as in Japanese society which Horie considers to be
one of the central issues we need to address.
Keywords: Japan, Christianity, theology, sexuality, gender, heterosexism
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 8
B3 [06]
CHRISTIAN FEMINISM IN JAPAN
M. Sonntag
Graduate School of Christian Studies, Rikkyo University, Japan
ABSTRACT
This paper explores contemporary approaches of Christian women to theology and practical faith,
focusing on proponents of “Christian feminism” in the broadest sense. Although Japanese Protestant
churches started women’s ordination as early as in 1933 their means of influence on church
administration and political decisions are still very limited. While some women established
independent research and/or mission institutions, others received support from international initiatives
(U.N. or WCC campaigns) pushing gender-balanced action inside the churches. Active women from
Catholic, Anglican and Protestant (UCCJ) backgrounds and their notions of a “feminist/women’s
perspective” will be introduced and analyzed. Struggling to make a difference as a sub-minority of the
religious minority of Christians in Japan they came to realize the importance of interreligious dialogue
with other Japanese women as well as in the broader Asian community. At the same time engagement
in dialogue seems to pose a threat to their theological self-assertion.
Keywords: Christianity in Japan, feminist activism and scholarship, ritual reform, dialogue
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 9
B4 [07]
GENDER DISCRIMINATION AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS: A COMPARATIVE
ANALYSIS WITH ANCIENT BRAHMAN THOUGHTS, BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY
AND HUMAN RIGHTS LAW
D.M.N.M. Jayarathna
The Open University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka
ABSTRACT
Discrimination against women continues to exist in every society from long ago in ancient era. As per
the belief and deep-rooted customs, women’s are considered as a special group which is vulnerable
and weak in many ways. Since this vulnerability often infringe women’s rights. This research seeks to
find out the position acquired by the women under ancient Brahman thoughts, Buddhist Philosophy
and present human rights law. According to that this research attempts to compare gender
discrimination and women’s rights, reviewing literature by using comparative and analytical method.
In ancient history the Brahmin who controlled the society laid down that “ Balye
Pithurvashethishteth- pranigrahasya Yawvane- Puthranambharathareeprethe-
Nabhajethsthriswathanthratham”, women should live under the control of father, husband and son in
young age, middle age and old age respectively. They always kept women under their control and
they had never given any social, cultural, economic freedom to women. However in Buddhist
teaching Supreme Buddha admire her as a nun, mother, wife and female devotee in many sutra and
sermon such as Singhalovada Sutra, Sapthabariya Sutra, Maha Mangala Sutra. Further women
treated similar to men in Buddhism and given equal opportunity without any discrimination. Buddhist
philosophy has not considered the “gender” but the “act” done by any person irrespectively. In
prevailing society since this gender discrimination and violation of women rights are happening
continuously, the United Nations has taken admirable steps and adopted the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights (UDHR)and affirmed that “all human being are born free and equal in dignity and
rights”. Moreover the Convention on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and
its Protocol has created a pathway to obtain women’s rights and get remedy for discrimination and
violation of their rights. Even though the Brahmin thoughts lead to create gender discrimination,
interestingly Buddhist Philosophy and present human rights Law allow to achieving women’s rights
without any discrimination.
Keywords: Buddhist philosophy, gender discrimination, rights violation, women rights, vulnerability
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 10
C1 [08]
ETHICAL ISSUES IN ADVERTISING: FRAMING OF WOMEN IN TABOO
ADVERTISEMENTS IN PAKISTAN
T. Anwar and J. Mazahir
Bahria University Islamabad, Pakistan
ABSTRACT
Advertisements are a tool of mass communication that draw attention towards the product and the
service provided by the marketers and the sponsors. This research discusses the ethical issues related
to the advertising, with primary focus on portrayal of women in the advertisements of “Taboo”
products in Pakistan. This study investigated the content of the advertisements and product attributes
through Content Analysis with respect to ethics in general and portrayal of women in particular.
Women are being portrayed in certain frames which have ethical and cultural implications of the
same. In addition, the study provides analysis on three products and one campaign that was pertaining
to ethically and morally controversial and offensive in nature. Furthermore, the study will further
identify the important ethical issues that need to be addressed via scholarly research. The concluding
results clearly indicate a very negative portrayal of ethics not pertaining to the culture of the
demographic that is being targeted as consumers.
Keywords: advertisements, women, taboo, framing
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 11
C2 [09]
“DEVAL CHAARAN WHO MAKES THE STORY HAPPEN IN THE EPIC OF
PABUJI”
S. Shukla
Faculty of Fine Arts, Manipal University Jaipur, India
ABSTRACT
Whenever evil comes to suppress the earth, the goddess takes human form to destroy it by
precipitating armed conflict. Deval has to help Pabuji throughout the story. There is the relative
strength of Deval and Pabuji: as the constant need for her help suggests, she is much the more
powerful. It may seem curious that the central god is weaker than one of the other deified characters
in this epic. The attitude of mixed feeling towards the goddess symbolizes the way in which she is
regarded, in her various reflections, throughout Rajasthan and, no doubt, far beyond. Deval herself
shares in this ambivalence: she is acting for good of the world, and attempting to resolve cosmic
problem, but she is also the cause of much bloodshed and death. It is significant that she is a chaaran
(woman cowherd), for it still frequently happens that chaaran women come to be regarded as form of
the goddess, often even during their lifetime and are viewed with a mixture of reverence and fear.
Deval is active, powerful and female: she stands very much on the shaiktya side of Hinduism, and she
controls Pabuji, who is a split hero, passive and male, and who is aligned to the Vaishnava faction
through the system of incarnation underlying his story.
In my research paper I am illuminating the significant and powerfulrole of Deval Chaaranias
she is the godlike character in the Epic of Pabuji.
Keywords: epic narrative, Indian folklore, Pabuji, Deval chaarani, god, goddess
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 12
C3 [10]
SRI LANKA’S CONTEMPORARY WOMEN ARTISTS: REPRESENTING THE
FEMALE BODY (RE-APPROPRIATION OF GENDER BIASED IMAGES)
M-D. Gil
CNRS Laboratory, University Paris 8, France
ABSTRACT
In 1971, Linda Nochlin famously wondered « Why have there been no great Women Artists? ». In her
groundbreaking essay, she analyzed a systemic situation, which prevented women from competing
with male artists. In my presentation, I plan to analyze how Sri Lankan woman artists are representing
the female bodies. Through Art history, representing women bodies was male artists’ privilege,
leading to an all-masculine outlook on women. This is why representing themselves is a way for
women to reclaim their own history, image and identity. I first intend to study how these artists are
showing the female body interacting in a public space. Women bodies are undeniably focusing points
of tension involving conventions, religions, and culture altogether. Besides, I will look through the
way they show the female body evolving in domestic spaces. This practice allows female artists to
criticize gender disparities in both public and domestic spaces. Then, I will focus my research on their
attempt at representing their « postwar bodies». As a matter of fact, women are the most vulnerable
population in wartimes. When they aesthetically represent them, male artists alternatively depict them
as soothing allegories or war allegories. When representing themselves, female artists bring non-
idealized and suffering women bodies to the public eye. To conclude, I will show how a range of Sri-
Lankan women artists are confronting the effect of colonialism on women with their work. Showing
ethnic women bodies and representing gender fluidity can then be seen as a restorative force against
oppression.
Keywords: gender, women, art, body, post-colonialism
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 13
D1 [11]
PROTECTION OF WOMEN HYGIENE AND THE LAWS OF WAR: A CRITICAL
ANALYSIS
E.K. Pandian1 and M.Z.K. Khan2
1 High Court of Madras, Tamilnadu Bar Council, India
2 Department of Law, International Islamic University Chittagong, Bangladesh and Ministry
of Education, Malaysia
ABSTRACT
Civilian women are one of the most vulnerable groups during armed conflicts. The history of the war
evinces that, women health and sanitation were never been a concern to the belligerents or too much
to say, poorly understood. For instance, in most of the cases, women who are not taking part in the
hostility, are in critical conditions due to random sexual abuses by the combatants and transformation
of diseases, malnutrition, unhygienic sanitation systems and inadequate health facilities in the conflict
zones and thus requires special care and protection for them. Even though, the Geneva Conventions
and Humanitarian laws stress the ‘responsibility to protect’ the women as noncombatant during
warfare, unfortunately their good health and sanitations have never been spoken off. Especially, the
solicitude of sanitary facilities for the victim women during armed conflicts is still a disregarded
matter to the international law in general and jus in bello in particular. Thus, the objective of this
research paper is to analyze all relevant provisions that stated under international and humanitarian
conventions relating to safety and sanitary facilities of the women in the conflict zones and their
contraventions. This research also highlights the reports of various international organs like Amnesty
International, Human Rights Watch and International Criminal Court cases to prove the vulnerability
of the women sanitation during hostility. The research further stresses the importance of the adoption
of special Conventions for protecting women from unhygienic sanitations in the conflict zones.
Keywords: women, sanitation, armed conflict, good health
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 14
D2 [12]
RETELLING CONFLICT: LIVES AND NARRATIVES OF WOMEN IN
NORTHEAST INDIA
S. Daa-dhora
Assam University Diphu Campus, India
ABSTRACT
A region of great diversities torn amidst various conflicts of secessionism, geopolitics and ethnic
divides, the Northeast of India holds a unique history of its own. In any form of conflict the greatest
impact is on the civilians and the soft targets are always the women. This conflict situation has
emerged as a major backdrop in the writings of the region through writers like Mitra Phukan, Temsula
Ao, Aruni Kashyap, Easterine Kire, Mamang Dai, etc. The writers are recreating their threatened past,
tradition and identity using violence, memory and trauma as the major devices in their writings. When
looked into the question of women, the writings focus on the women of the region caught between the
personal and the political issues which question the issues of identity, nation, space, home, nationality,
country, freedom and peace. The definitions of conflict and the idea of freedom exist with violence as
a tactic and as a legitimate and integral part of it. This comes in the form of gendered violence;
increased control over sexuality, freedom and rights, and the traumatic impact beyond measure. This
paper is an attempt to find the various realities put to narration and how history is being interpreted,
questioned and put to life through the radical act of storytelling in writing.
Keywords: conflict/insurgency, violence, women, memory, trauma
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 15
D3 [13]
‘FROM INNOCENT VICTIMS TO DANGEROUS ELEMENTS’? THE RISING
TREND OF FEMALE SUICIDE BOMBERS IN NORTHEAST NIGERIA
R. Buba
Department of Political Science, Gombe State University, Gombe State, Nigeria
ABSTARCT
The use of women and children in terrorist activities is no new phenomenon. Increasingly, women and
girls are being recruited by extremist groups and are being radicalized and are exploited by these
violent groups. While women and children have been involved in violent extreminism in Europe,
Middle East, Africa, and other parts of the world, using females as suicide bombers in the ongoing
Boko Haram insurgency is a relatively new trend. Prior to Boko Haram insurgency in North East
Nigeria, women and girls are perceived to be peaceful, soft, vulnerable and less violent within the
society. They are considered nurtures and not destroyers, and also known to be victims of violence.
However, in recent years, the complex nature of women and children’s involvement in this extremist
group has become increasingly apparent. They are no more seeing as victims of extremism, but rather
as perpetrators. Despite these major shifts in the way that society views a woman’s role in political
violence, many within the Nigerian society still considered Political violence to be a man’s work and
therefore, the role of teenage girls within these activities is questionable and surprising. What drives
female suicide bombers? What explains Boko Haram’s female suicide bombers are they innocent
victims or dangerous elements? Using a feminist research, the paper highlights the reasons behind
female participation in suicide bombing in Nigeria. The study is based on secondary sources.
Keywords: female, suicide bombing, Boko Haram
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 16
D4 [14]
VIOLENCE AS A SITE OF WOMEN’S AGENCY IN WAR: THE
REPRESENTATION OF FEMALE MILITANTS IN SRI LANKA’S POST-WAR
LITERATURE
T.N.K. Meegaswatta
Department of Languages, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Sri Lanka
ABSTRACT
The increasing visibility of armed women in violent conflicts in the modern world has unsettled
conventional beliefs of inferiority, weakness, innocence, and the resultant fragility and victimhood of
women. Although in theory it is possible to conceptualize armed woman and violence as
empowerment, in practice, the temporal realities that inevitably haunt any discussion of ‘terrorism’
and ‘terrorists’ in conflict ridden polarized societies severely curtail the terminology available to
frame militancy in general and the ‘terror’ it generates as ‘liberatory’. However, fictional and non-
fictional literary work that were published in the aftermath of Sri Lanka’s war (1983-2009) seem to
push the boundaries of the discourse on women, violence, and terror. This paper analyzes the
representation of armed women in The Seasons of Trouble (Mohan, 2014), Island of a Thousand
Mirrors (Munaweera, 2014), Tamil Tigress (De Soyza, 2013), and Thiyunu Asipathaka Sevana Yata
(trans.) (Jeyakumaran, 2016) with the assumption that the genres of auto/biography and fiction offer
an alternative archive within which seemingly polarized ‘truths’ entrenched in nationalist conflicts
can be explored in their nuanced complexity. This paper assesses how literary portrayals of female
militancy vis-à-vis violence, empowerment, and victimhood challenge conventional history and
narratives and, in doing so, contribute to expand the boundaries of our understanding of female
militancy in times of violent conflict. In conclusion, this paper suggests that the location of violence
and female militancy within an ambivalent space of agency in narrative literature may also entail an
unsettling of conventional figurations of war in gendered terms.
Keywords: post-war, literature, representation, female militants, violence, women, agency
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 17
E1 [15]
WOMEN WRITE NEW YORK CITY
M. Tombro
The Fashion Institute of Technology, The State University of New York, United States
ABSTRACT
Inspired by Rebecca Solnit’s remapping of NYC to represent the women who shaped its narrative,
this paper examines women’s contributions to the creation of NYC as literary construct through
analysis of their writings on literature, art and activism. No city has been more anthologized as subject
and inspiration. Popularized narratives construct our experience of the city and NYC has been a
historically popular topic and setting for many great works of literature. Despite this, women who
write about the city, especially women of color and first generation Americans have been vastly
underrepresented as creators of the city’s literary landscape. Popular books fail to focus on the vast
array of women’s voices that have contributed to the creation NYC as preeminent center for literary
production. This paper seeks to disrupt and redirect that canon by highlighting works by women
responsible for important cultural production related to the city and its boroughs. My work identifies
the way women have formed and contributed to these narratives, how their stories have been
celebrated, forgotten, anthologized or gone relatively unheard. The city is considered as character and
setting and I will demonstrate how the celebration of women’s contributions and narratives come to
play in our understanding of the city as a whole.
Keywords: writing, women, New York City, culture, remapping, canon
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 18
E2 [16]
SACKS OF MUTILATED BREASTS: VIOLENCE AND BODY POLITICS IN
PARTITION LITERATURE
N-T. Antonia
University of Cordoba, Spain
ABSTRACT
The partition narratives of South Asian authors are testimony to the fact that women of all ethnic and
religious backgrounds were the greatest victims of the newly created border between India and
Pakistan in 1947. Women’s bodies were abducted, stripped naked, raped, mutilated (their breasts cut
off), carved with religious symbols and murdered to be sent in train wagons to the “other” side of the
border. Taking Bapsi Sidhwa’s novel Ice Candy Man/Cracking India (1988) as a narrative example of
the importance of women’s point of view and as central figures of the violent conflict, we will
examine the symbol of the female breasts, following Judith Butler’s and Michel Foucault’s theories
on power and govern mentality, framed in the rhetoric of Mother India, as the violence inflicted upon
women was equivalent to a sacrilege against one’s religion, family and country. Therefore, we will
examine the passage of sacks of mutilated breasts as a terrifying testimonial about Partition history
fictionally recalled, but also as a metaphor of the border crossing which threatens the stability of the
nation. In the light of Julia Kristen’s theory on the abjection, we will interpret the female corpses with
mutilated breasts as abject which blur the limits of a normative society, displaying its fragility. We
will conclude by asserting that the novel discussed in this paper can be read as a harsh indictment of
both a violent de/colonial process and local misogynist corruption (lessons from History) as well as a
weapon of feminist resistance (doing Her story). Women’s mutilated bodies are uncovered by authors
such as Bapsi Sidhwa in order to expose the tragedy and trauma so that the history/body dialectic (a
tale of the violation of women’s rights) can be, as a consequence, also uncovered.
Keywords: trauma, resilience, abjection, healing, Bapsi Sidhwa, Mother India
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 19
E3 [17]
ECO-FEMINISM AND INDIAN LITERATURE
P. Pandya
Post Graduate Department of Gujarati, Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar,
Gujarat, India
ABSTRACT
The term ‘eco-feminism’ was coined by the French writer Françoise d’Eaubonne in her book, le
f’eminismeou la Mort (1974). The term deals with feminism and eco-criticism.’ Feminist criticism
examines language and literature from a gender conscious perspective. ‘Eco-criticism seeks to
evaluate texts and ideas in terms of their coherence and usefulness as a response to environmental
crisis’1.it takes a nature-centred approach to literary studies. ‘Eco-criticism is the study of the
relationship between literature and the physical environment.’2 Eco-feminism connects the
exploitation and domination of women and nature by men. It relates radical feminism and cultural
feminism. Eco- feminism grew during the 1980S and 1990s among the women from the anti-nuclear
and the environment movement. According to Mery Mellor’ it emerged in the 1970s alongside the
second-wave feminism and the green movement.’3
An Indian woman’s writing, especially after independent (1947) has been viewed as a powerful
medium of feminism. Indian women writers in the present era have begun to voice their concerns on
urbanization in India and its impact on gender as well as the environment.
The paper seeks the women’s relationship with the nature Indian literature. The metaphorical use of
nature, sensuous beauty of nature, nature as background, nature contrasted with man, the indifference
of nature had been written by writers as a subject in previous literature. But the utilisation of nature,
nature and planet earth, nature and pollution, problem of climate change are topics of the
contemporary Indian literature.
Keywords: eco criticism, feminism, eco feminism, chipco movement, contemporary Indian literature
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 20
E4 [18]
PORTRAYAL OF LESBIAN CHARACTERS IN FICTIONAL NARRATIVES: AN
ANALYSIS USING ADRIENNE RICH’S CONCEPT OF LESBIAN CONTINUUM
AND EXISTENCE
M. Moses
Silliman University, Philippines
ABSTRACT
The fluidity of gender and sexualities has never been much emphasized than now. In this age of
constant changes, an issue that demands much attention and that is hard to ignore is gender expression
and sexuality. The non-heterosexual and non-cisgender identities and advocacy of legalising such
identities and relationships are much discussed topics in the academe as well as in the socio-political
world. And certainly literature has asserted its important role in reflecting that reality and most times
has functioned as a cornerstone for political movements in gender rights. This paper analyses two
novels, Jane Rule’s Desert of the Heart and Sara Farizan’s If You Could Be Mine to find out if the
lesbian characters portrayed in the stories are empowered individually in their lives because of their
sexual orientation. I use Adrienne Rich’s seminal concepts such as “Lesbian Existence” and “Lesbian
Continuum” as the base to find if women characters designed in fiction reflect the traits that Rich talks
about in her essay, “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence”.
Keywords: women in fiction, lesbianism, heterosexuality, third world lesbians, first world lesbians,
women empowerment
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 21
E5 [19]
THE ‘SCHOLAR AS ACTIVIST’: POSTCOLONIAL FEMINIST FILM PRACTICE
AS A TOOL FOR SOCIAL, DEVELOPMENT, EMPOWERMENT AND
RESISTANCE
S. Moodley
Nelson Mandela University, South Africa
ABSTRACT
The findings of my recently completed PhD project - which proposes a postcolonial feminist film
practice for social development, empowerment and resistance – has revealed that participatory video,
a necessarily self-reflexive filmmaking practice, offers the potential to both generate and share
knowledge through a collaborative process. My paper, in providing a brief overview of the study,
which drew on the participation of South African Hindu women, argues for a combination of
autoethnography and participatory video as the two main components of the postcolonial feminist film
practice. The autoethnographic approach lends itself to the argument for a more socially embedded
scholar who occupies the role of both researcher/teacher and participant in the process of knowledge
dissemination and creation. Autoethnography together with participatory video encourages greater
self-reflexivity in a process where the roles of scholar and participant become interchangeable, and
questions of social context and positionality are raised during the process of storytelling. Drawing on
the films, that were produced by both the female participants in my research and myself, I will exhibit
clips that show how the applied filmmaking practice holds the possibility for dynamic and creative
ways of capturing and representing the stories of both women (and people in general) in socially,
economically and politically oppressed contexts (be it through documentary, fiction films, co-
constructed narratives). The results of which hold the potential for social change and awareness,
learning beyond the boundaries of the institution and agency for those whose stories are given
expression.
Keywords: self-reflexivity, autoethnography, feminist filmmaking, postcolonial, participatory video
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 22
E6 [20]
GENDER ANALYSIS IN KOKKILAI LAGOON1 REGION
B.J. Rasanen
University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka
ABSTRACT
This case study summarizes a gender analysis2 conducted from Jan 2017 to June 2017 to assess
gender dynamics in households of the Kokkilai lagoon region3 of Sri Lanka. The research is based on
the primary data collection and analysis using a gender sensitive mixed participatory methodology.
The findings have brought that the deep-rooted negative social, cultural and religious practices that
affect access to equal share in resources, assets, activities, using space for productivity, marketing and
household resilience. Women who are more empowered are more articulate and able to exercise their
rights and influence critical decisions relative to their lives in their homes, communities and wider
institutional structures. The need for a multi-stakeholder ecosystem approach that considers the
diverse interests and roles of all involved, and most importantly, places gender equity at the center.
Keywords: gender analysis, Kokkilai lagoon, livelihood management, gender equity
1Kokkilai lagoon falls within two districts namely Mullaithevu in the Northern Province and
Trincomalee in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka.
2 Gender analysis is an assessment with the information on women, men, girls and boys in terms of
their division of labor, roles and responsibilities, access to and control over resources and their
relative condition and position in society. It is undertaken to ensure that development projects and
programs fully incorporate the roles, needs and participation of all without excluding anybody.
3 Kokkilai lagoon is 6th by area content out of 45 lagoons in Sri Lanka and it covers an area of 53.491
square kilometers and it is in the Dry Zone and it is fourth rank in Watershed 1,233 square kilometers
out of 45 lagoons in Sri Lanka according to a research by Silva et al, 2013.
http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/Publications/Books/PDF/lagoons_of_sri_lanka-from_the_origins_to_the_present.pdf
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 23
E7 [21]
DECONSTRUCTING THEORY-PRACTICE: RE-THINKING METHODOLOGY
S. Kriti
Ambedkar University, Delhi, India
ABSTRACT
This paper is based on an ‘action research’ in Mardapoti (a largely Gond adivasi village in
Chhattisgarh, India) on the gender-labor continuum in household spaces, where I along with a group
of young women and men re-thought research as co-research with community (and not on
community), methodology (as actioning research and researching action) in the context of
transforming the extant structure of the sexual division of labor. We together deconstructed the
problem of scarcity of water to arrive at the underlying problem of labor sharing among women and
men. Through the mixed group of young women and men, we tried to re-orient the young men to
participate in household labor (especially that of fetching water from faraway sources). Such
experience of immersion (not fieldwork) in community contexts and the practice of engendering labor
sharing in household spaces brought me to the threshold of questioning existing set of methodologies;
or perhaps the questioning of methodologies brought me to practice. The over determined experience
of ‘knowing the researched’ and the ‘being of the researcher’ are perhaps not enough for a
methodology to be feminist; one perhaps needed to engage in transformative social praxis with
women (and men); one needed to engage collaboratively with the community in the researching of the
problem and the actioning of research findings for a feminist future (in this case the question of labor
sharing).This paper shall argue that such a feminist methodology also calls for a questioning of the
strict compartmentalization of disciplines, which has also made me (re)think binaries like natural
science/social science, fact/value, objective/subjective and so on.
Keywords: action research, gender-labor, immersion, feminist methodology, praxis
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E8 [22]
BIOLOGY AS POLITICS IN GENDER SIGNIFICATIONS: A STUDY OF TONY
MORRISON’S THE BLUEST EYES
S.M. Vanamala
Sir M. Vishweswariah Post- Graduate Centre, Mandya, University of Mysore, India
ABSTRACT
The concept of gender and the related practices are born at the intersection of biology and politics.
Biological markers; physical, physiological and psychological are politicized for hierarchical
positioning of man and woman. The nexus between biology and politics has also generated the notion
of ‘immutability’ of woman’s ‘gendered self’. Women too, having interiorized the inferiority of the
self unquestioningly have shown little inclination to redefine her-‘self’. The inability for better ‘self’
definition is also due to the failure to distinguish the exact point of confluence between biology and
politics in the socially ascribed gender identities. Caught in the imbroglio woman has suffered
crippled social and psychological consequences and the same is well substantiated in the novel The
Bluest Eye by African American writer Tony Morrison. The women characters in the novel are
paradigms of real life situations. While some do acutely suffer from social and psychological
deprivation having interiorized the inferiority of their biological markers, others handle affirmatively
the socially ascribed deprivations of their physical self by understanding the nexus between biology
and politics. The novel successfully explores the fact that distinct anatomical difference between man
and woman or the biological identities of humans should not be the cause or source of discriminatory
practices. Or in other words the novel denies the inferiority of woman as something hermetically
sealed and that social factors; advantages of birth (like race and social class), socio-cultural pressures,
cultivation of mental culture and many more are of great consequence for both the formation of
‘positive self- identity’ by woman and for challenging of gender significations.
Keywords: biology and politics, biological markers, social ascription, gender significations, social and
psychological deprivation, ‘identity’ formation
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F1 [23]
AN INSIGHT TO WOMEN IN CONSTRUCTION FOR FOSTERING FEMALE
CAREERS IN SRI LANKAN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
V. Srivishagan and R. Thalpage
Department of Civil Engineering, University College of Matara, Sri Lanka
ABSTRACT
With the rapid growth of new technologies in present global market, the human skills and knowledge
also should be increased. Nowadays Sri Lankan construction industry is facing with technical and
managerial skill shortages and capacity problems of workers. The ‘women in construction’ is a topic
concerned by many nations since many years. With above rapid growth, there is a slight increment in
the number of females working in construction field, but still it is a very low contribution when
compared with other fields as manufacturing, administrative or academic. As per the Sri Lankan
vocational education reports, though there are around 40% of female students enrolled in local
technical colleges, over 70% of them are applying for nontechnical and culturally accepted feminine
courses as home science, dressmaking, beauty culture and secretarial courses. Further, since there is
always a gender differentiate in the local industry, women are significantly low represented in
technical fields as construction and there are some factors affecting for them as social status about the
job, body nature not supports the construction hard works, male staff behaviors and gender barriers in
industry. Thus, this research is aimed to recommend the probable approaches to foster female careers
in Sri Lankan construction industry with the objectives for identifying the importance of women in
constructions and the barriers towards them. A quantitative research approach was adopted for
attaining the research aim while conducting questionnaire survey with 100 participants who are
engaged with the local construction industry. The findings were analyzed to list out the most
significant barriers for the women in construction and it was recommended several drivers to foster
female carriers in local construction industry.
Keywords: construction, Sri Lankan, women, importance, barriers, foster
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F2 [24]
PLURALIZING DISCOURSES: MULTINATIONALS AND GENDER EQUALITY
M.V.F.C. Leite
Ius Gentium Conimbrigae – Faculty of Law, University of Coimbra, Portugal
ABSTRACT
The present article investigates the impact of multinational corporations in the concept of gender
equality. According to legal pluralism theory, in every society, two or more legal systems not
belonging to a single ‘system’ coexist. It is, however, unknown to what extent non-state actors
contribute to the ‘bending and breaking’ of rules in legal systems that are inherently pluralistic in the
juristic sense. Although, the use of the language of rights has grown rapidly amongst development
policy and practice, the rhetoric of formal rights as advocated by international development bodies
have not always improved the everyday reality, in particular those of historically marginalised
women. This is because public policies geared towards social justice have no effect if not inserted into
a wider culture of political measures for positive change. In this sense, an empirical examination is
proposed to understand the role exerted by multinational corporations in the development and
implementation of International Human Rights Law by focusing on the concept of gender equality. It
relies of legal pluralism theories combined with critical discourse analysis to map the processes
associated with the transformation of key terms and their meanings. It attempts to understand the
nuances in the use of human rights-based discourses by the three different multinationals, and their
relation to the de-politicisation of the wider human rights movement.
Keywords: gender equality, legal pluralism, critical discourse analysis, multinational corporations
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F3 [25]
ERADICATION OF PREGNANCY DISCRIMINATION & INSTITUTION OF
GENDER EQUALITY IN THE WORK PLACE: A LEGAL PERSPECTIVE
S.A. Caygill
Faculty of Law, General Sir John Kothelawala Defence University, Sri Lanka
ABSTRACT
With the very swift development of the human rights, fond of society to create an unimpeded dialog
concerning their individual rights has been expanded; thus the rights of women stole the limelight due
to the inherited lacunas in procedures and high number of un-redressed areas, it bears. As per the
definitions provided by CAAWS (Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport &
physical activities) “Gender Equity” is the process of allocating resources, programs, and decision
making, fairly to both males and females. In contrast, “Gender Equality” is the process of allocating
resources, programs, and decision makings so that males and females can have the same. Briefly,
Equality focuses on creating the same start line for everyone whilst Equity has the goal of
conveyancing everyone to the same finish line, proves the difference of two concepts. Gender equality
at work place, precisely the protection of women’s employment rights with null sexual harassment or
degrading is one component that fertilizes the seed of “gender equality” subsequently the domestic
legal framework (Constitutional guarantees, Penal Code, Industrial Dispute Act, Bribery Act, Shop
and Office Employees Act, Maternity Benefits Ordinance, Sri Lanka bureau of Foreign employment
ordinance, Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Act) and the international
instruments (ILO standards, CEDW, ICESR, ICCPR, Banjul Charter article 62 of African Charter on
Human Rights and Peoples’ rights) would nourish and nurse these mechanisms. This research
primarily focuses on addressing the dilemma of gender/sex discrimination at work place which leads
to pregnancy discrimination in employment. Moreover the conflict between ‘black letters’ ( de jure)
and ‘realities’( de facto) will be summarized to emphasize the inefficiency of conceived legal
enactments which lack harmonization with the biological theories of gender differences and
sociological accounts of patriarchy. In order to wear away the ideology of ‘male breadwinner’, de-
traditionalization of practice is necessary to locate the concept ‘dual breadwinner’ in a more favorable
cultural & religious climate since Sri Lanka is a multicultural museum, thus conflicting. Hence the
cultural and religious conceptualism will be discussed. lastly, this research seeks to identify feasible
gap filling movements in order to establish a win-win situation for all religions and communities with
a unique model by avoiding duplication of international law codes.
Keywords: gender equity, gender equality, gender discrimination, pregnancy discrimination,
employment, sexual harassment
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F4 [26]
STRENGTHENING AND EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN PARTICIPATION IN
INFORMAL WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN NORTHERN PROVINCE OF SRI
LANKA (SUSTAINABLE ENTREPRENEURSHIP)
V. Sinnathamby1 and J.S. Paramananthan2
1Department of Management of Technology, Faculty of Business, University of Moratuwa,
Sri Lanka
2Post Graduate Institute of Management (PIM), University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri
Lanka
ABSTRACT
Introduction
Entrepreneurship is a startup process of designing, launching and running a new venture or business.
Women constitute 50.7% of the population in Sri Lanka, but their active participation towards
economy is relatively low. Due to three decades of ethnic conflict, communities lost their health,
wealth and valuable human souls, especially most of the families lost their breadwinners, which create
a significant amount of widows, and women headed families in the war-affected areas of Northern &
Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka. Encouraging Informal Women Entrepreneurship is much vital
concept, in order to enhance their livelihood and regional development. Many non-governmental,
public and private financial institutions launched variety of livelihood income generating projects,
which created multiple challenges to the affected women than a successful livelihood support.
Women are present in every part of local value chains—as producers and business owners, executives
and employees, distributors, and consumers. With globalization and advances in communications
technologies, value chains have helped unlock opportunities for women around the world to
participate more fully in formal labor markets and access products and services to improve their
wellbeing. Accelerating women in the value chain presents an incredible opportunity to not only
improve the lives of people making, selling, and buying products, but also to ensure more stable and
efficient supply chains, draw on a diverse pool of talent, and reach new consumer segments, which
influence financial performance and long-term business resilience. It will leads to cost savings and
productivity, innovation, and market growth. This study mainly reveals the challenges faced by
women entrepreneurs and recommend a practical solution. The key finding is to design a feasible
model with ways and means of women entrepreneurship, their own strategies and leadership styles,
which leads a successful sustainable business.
Problem statement/Research argument
Problems faced by women entrepreneurs in Nepal and Sri Lanka are mainly on low access to credit
and marketing networks; lack of access to land and property; reduced risk taking capacity; lack of
access to modern technology; lack of personal security and risk of sexual harassment; severe
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
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competition in domestic and international markets; low level of self-confidence; and social and
cultural barriers of exclusive responsibility for household work with restrictions on mobility (ADB
Report, 1999). Initial investment to start a business is the greatest constraint facing all women
entrepreneurs in the North and East of Sri Lanka due to lack of funds. Mostly the loans were disposed
for projects such as the setting up of a small provision shop, cattle-farming, goat-rearing, poultry-
farming, agricultural farming, paddy cultivation, vegetable farming, tailoring and food processing.
The Centre for Women’s Development and Rehabilitation (CWDR) has in its proposals the setting up
of a power loom, lingerie factory and food processing plant but this would require a few million
rupees and the idea has hence been shelved until they find a source for international funding.
Research Methodology
Literature review of selected case studies and In-depth Interview with five women entrepreneurs.
Further, a Focus Group Discussions (FDG) will be conduct in all Districts in Northern Province on
challenges faced by women entrepreneurs; their success and failure stories/case studies; capacity
building assessment and institutional (market and finance) network. The in-depth interviews focused
on five women entrepreneurs involved in five different entrepreneurial ventures such as i) banana
plantation ii) poultry farming; iii) retail grocery shop; iv) retail stitched garments shop and v) food
processing. From the literature review, we have reviewed and summarized few samples taken by
scholars and researchers explore the practical aspects of women entrepreneurs’ needs and their
problems to the view of advocacy levels of Public and Private financial sectors of Sri Lanka who
could foster their sustainable growth and contribute towards the GDP. Further, this study will analyze
few viable tool kits to create vehicles as a women’s business center one-stop-shop, “life center” or
women’s business incubator.
Expected key findings and conclusions
Our preliminary study revealed on that majority of the women entrepreneurs needs a structured
entrepreneurship training. Training conduced at present were neither regular nor structured, but on an
ad-hoc basis and the greatest bottleneck is Tamil language. Further, entrepreneurial skills of women,
manage and develop new and existing ventures, lack of technical and technological knowledge,
especially on book-keeping and computer skills; use of the information technology such as to shorten
business processes, improve product quality, improve customer service and increase marketability of
the product/service; and quality improvement. Recognition of the women entrepreneur is the most
critical factor since it is an important unit contributing towards the economic growth. Support from
Government and Aid agencies are important special value addition; marketing; financing; soft skill
development; strategic plan; flexible business training; and quality improvement towards
sustainability. In addition, the growth-oriented women entrepreneurs eager to know how to build
successful business partnerships, networks and enter new markets through trade fairs; business
forums; conferences; research studies; knowledge sharing, and create jobs etc. The misfortune of war
must not be the reason for depriving these women entrepreneurs of a better life.
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F5 [27]
SOCIAL ENTERPRISE AND WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT: CASE STUDIES
FROM INDIA
S. Kumar
School of Social Work, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India
ABSTRACT
Within the South Asian nations development work has several participating stakeholders. Of which
the state, civil society organisations, international development agencies all have played a crucial role
in shaping development policies and addressing poverty. With the rapid globalization processes in
countries in South Asia especially India, poverty as a key issue seems to have lost its relevance.
Simultaneously state’s responsibility for provisioning social security for its citizens is being pushed
back in its policy agenda. The resultant economic changes because of liberalization and ensuing
opening of markets, has drastically impacted the hitherto protected traditional social enterprises. India
has a rich history of social enterprises, which are intimately connected to the socio-economic and
cultural fabric of the diverse communities. These have evolved out of traditional work like
embroidery, weaving, brassware and such others, which were intimately entrenched in social relations
of the particular region. Women have been intrinsically part of these social enterprises as informal
workers. Many of these enterprises have had to change the ways in which they do business andmove
towards profit oriented processes and designs to match with competition in the market. With the push
for more homogenized products and production of scale women are finding themselves being pushed
out of such traditional work. Because of their inability to adapt to the new forms of mechanization and
required skills they are forced into jobs, which require manual labour with lower wages and dignity.
This paper is going to examine these aspects using case studies of old and new social enterprises.
Keywords: women, informal work, social enterprises, globalization and liberalization
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F6 [28]
EXPLORATION OF WORKPLACE SEXUAL HARASSMENT THROUGH THE
DIMENSIONS OF SOCIAL CLASS AND RACE
R.J. Abeywardena
University of Roehampton, London, United Kingdom
ABSTRACT
The phenomenon of workplace sexual harassment, although has existed since men and women began
working together in some form or the other, it was largely ignored until the late 1970’s (Wise &
Stanley, 1987). My dissertation investigates sexual harassment that occurs in the workplace through
the lenses of social class, power relations and race. Through interviews with five women, their
interpretation of their experiences in the respective workplaces are analysed through a three-way
coding process. Findings highlight that sexual harassment is common in male dominated
organisations. In addition, those who has a tenuous link with the organisation tends to be sexually
harassed, in a similar vein, women who have worked for a substantial period of time are less likely to
be sexually harassed. Sexualised behaviours were seen as ‘banter’ by women when experienced
amongst a group of colleagues, however the same type of encounters were perceived as sexual
harassment when experienced on an individual level. The results have shown that all the five
participants were sexually harassed by men who had formal organisational authority or informal
sources of power i.e. influence at work/longer duration of employment in the organisation. Therefore
power dynamics will remain to be a central factor in studies of workplace sexual harassment. In terms
of policy, sexual harassment were more likely to take place in workplaces where their stance on the
issue is uncertain i.e. not having policies to address sexual harassment. Implications for organisations
are discussed along with recommendation for future research.
Keywords: sexual harassment, power, sexual coercion, gender, intersectionality, organization
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F7 [29]
THE INFLUENCE OF GENDER ON ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILL AND
ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTION AMONG YOUTH IN SRI LANKA
P. Pretheeba and S. Vijayapala
Eastern University, Sri Lanka, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka
ABSTRACT
In the contemporary competitive and dynamic environment, entrepreneurs are considered as national
asset to be nurtured and encouraged to the greatest possible to reduce the global crisis of youth
unemployment. Even though there are number of studies carried out connected to entrepreneurial
intention, there is a dearth of studies exist concerned to entrepreneurial intention among youth in Sri
Lanka. The preferment towards women entrepreneurship has accelerated radically, though the rates of
women entrepreneurs remain significantly lower than men. This study attempts to narrow the gap in
the literature by examining the youth entrepreneurial skills and their intentions to become as
entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka and the gender differences in entrepreneurial skill. Study was carried out
by a survey method, using a questionnaire, 4 – point Likert scale, targeted a sample of 500 youth from
selected Vocational Training Centre in Sri Lanka employing a systematic sampling method.
Eventually the sample ends up with 402 usable responses. The result of the survey reveals that there
are 152 males and 250 female which is 37.8% and 62.3 % respectively. Further it reveals that there is
no significant difference between male and female with regard to entrepreneurial intention. Both
genders have high level of entrepreneurial intention, despite the fact that the gender has significant
difference on Perseverance and Destin subscales of aptitude and attitude respectively. The paper
contributes to the literature by theorizing and empirically testing how attitude and aptitude affect the
entrepreneurial intention of youth in Sri Lanka.
Keywords: entrepreneurial intention, entrepreneurial skill, attitude, aptitude, gender, unemployment
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F8 [30]
PERSPECTIVE OF WOMEN’S ROLE & GENDER EQUALITY ISSUE IN
ENGINEERING BASED COMPANY (A STUDY IN MHE-DEMAG BRANCHES
LOCATED IN INDONESIA, MALAYSIA & SINGAPORE)
P. Victor
The London School of Public Relations – Jakarta, Indonesia
ABSTRACT
Women’s role and the issue of gender equality have been in the spotlight of discussion for years, the
fact that both factors are still become the focus of discussions all over the world reflect the urgency of
this topic. Narrowing down the scale of discussion, this research focuses in three countries such as
Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore which are internationally known as the “Growth Triangle of South
East Asia” and will explore the regional scale of network in MHE-Demag, one of the leading
engineering companies in South East Asia. Despite the data where most of females were in the
engineering study during their degree, there are gap between the number of graduates in engineering
and the real engineers itself. Therefore, the objectives of this research are mainly to: 1). Identify on
how company management perceives female participation in the engineering position, 2). Study the
background factors on why the number of female engineers is very low compared to the men
engineers at these three countries, 3). Identify whether different country cultures have an effect in
shaping the corporate culture. This research uses five organizational communications performance
under the organizational culture theory to explore the condition by implementing depth interview
targeted to the decision makers in the company located in the countries, the human resources
managers and the facility managers.
Keywords: gender, equality, engineering, women, gender role
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F9 [31]
WOMEN AS SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS: OPPORTUNITIES, CHALLENGES
K. Vallath
Total English Solutions (TES), Trivandrum, India
ABSTRACT
It is imperative for the progress of any society that women become independent and productive.
Social entrepreneurship of women, in both developed and developing nations, holds tremendous
promise for economic growth and prosperity. It is in the hands of women that businesses develop into
their full potential as extended social service, focusing more on empowering women in the society, on
education and in addressing the needs of the children, the disabled and the needy. I have been a
successful entrepreneur for the past twenty years, teaching English Language and Literature to adult
communities comprising mostly of women from across India, and pioneering and propagating
educational and entrepreneurial innovations. Over these years, running the largest finishing school for
university students of English literature in the country, I have also been considerably creative in this
area, exploring the various possibilities of entrepreneurial innovation and educational innovation. To
make the study of literature an all-encompassing life activity for the learners, I have merged my
teaching with associated business ventures such as a literature merchandise shop, a web-inspired book
publishing company, a gaming club, a travel company, and so on. From the vantage point of an
educationist who has combined traditional teaching with entrepreneurship, I propose to examine in
my paper the opportunities and challenges I faced as a social entrepreneur and on social
entrepreneurship of women at large.
Keywords: social entrepreneurship, education, women empowerment, innovation, sustainable
businesses
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F10 [32]
WOMAN AS AN IMAGE IN WAR PROPAGANDA POSTERS
E.E.K. Bog
Dumlupınar University, Turkey
ABSTRACT
Woman figure as an image can be seen often in most of the places from advertising to graphic design
products with the examples that are using the attached social roles of woman. In these examples, the
woman is sometimes confronted with sexy and impassionate position that is remain in the forefront of
femininity, sometimes with the role of mother and a housewife. Especially during the World War I
and II, in the posters designed for war propaganda, this is totally go beyond the ordinary situation and
the roles of man tried to impose on to the woman. In the war propaganda posters, the image of woman
undertaken different roles with the support of semi-masculine, brave and strong characteristics. The
women are encouraged about that they have a capability to do every work that man can do and
convinced about that they can take over the men’s job who were fighting in the battle. In this essay,
the war propaganda posters examined deeply in terms of societal and social within the woman image.
This is important not only it forms a basis content of social message differentiated according to
periodical needs of woman images, but also it provides the roots of extensive consciousness of
feminism, the economic power of woman and the equality of women and men in the world.
Keywords: war posters, propaganda, poster design, the image of woman, society roles, feminism
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G1 [33]
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN BANGLADESH: AN ANALYSIS
FROM CRIMINOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
K.F. Rahman
Department of Criminology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
ABSTRACT
In Bangladesh, being in a patriarchal society, powerlessness and vulnerability is associated with
women’s lives where they are dominated and subjugated by the men. Women are often controlled by
father, husband and son in different phases of their lives and because of this; a woman commonly has
risk of experiencing domestic violence within her family. Though Bangladesh is experiencing
relatively high level of gender equality in South Asia, still it is not very surprising that the husband is
more likely to assault and/or batter his educated/financially solvent wife if she fails to meet his
demands or to perform household work. Domestic violence often takes place in form of physical
aggression or threats, sexual and emotional abuse, stalking, passive/covert abuse, and economic
deprivations. Bangladesh Government has passed the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection)
Act of 2010 for the protection of women and children from family violence and discrimination.
However, we observe that in spite of having many legal protections of women in the society, this form
of violence is still continuing and in some cases are increasing day by day. The paper against this
background will analyse the reasons of domestic violence from a criminological perspective. Again it
will critically analyse the national and international legal protection for the victims; and the
compliance procedure by the state. The methodology includes a wide literature review on the issue of
domestic violence. Additionally face to face interviews with victims, perpetrators, law enforcing
agencies, lawyers and judges will be conducted to collect data with a view to conceptualising
domestic violence in context of Bangladesh.
Keywords: women, domestic violence, national law
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G2 [34]
THE TABOO OF SEX WITHIN GENDER BASED VIOLENCE: LOCALISING THE
GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT PARADIGM IN CAMBODIA
E.C. Robertson
University of Melbourne, Australia
ABSTRACT
The Gender and Development (GAD) paradigm emerged out of decades of concerted effort by
theorists, practitioners and feminists. GAD has attempted to bring women as individuals into the
development institution and while this has no doubt contributed to considerable advances in women’s
access to education, health care and employment, it has yet to greatly affect gender based violence
(GBV). GBV continues to plague development despite GAD’s best efforts. Recent research suggests
that this may be linked to the paradigm’s inability to address female sexuality in and of itself. Female
sex and sexuality continues to be a taboo at global and local levels of GAD, where sex is relegated to
a public health issue instead of treated as a fundamental aspect of human experience. In this way,
women continue be to constructed within the GAD institution as passively sexual beings. In nine
semi-structured interviews with local GAD actors in Cambodia, the immediacy of this issue became
apparent. Not only do these experts recognize the importance of addressing female sexuality, but are
acutely aware of how their positionality both enables and constrains their ability to adequately broach
this issue. During approximately one month of study in Phnom Penh, I conducted interviews with
Cambodian GAD actors of any gender working for Cambodian-run organisations. Drawing upon this
feminist-oriented research, this paper argues that the omission of female sexuality from GAD is a root
cause of persistent GBV.
Keywords: female sexuality, development, gender based violence
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G3 [35]
GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE IN EXTREME SETTINGS: REMOTENESS,
RESISTANCE, AND RECOVERY
A. Ahmad1, J. Mannell2 and G. Shannon2
1St Georges University of London, United Kingdom
2University College London, United Kingdom
ABSTRACT
Incidents of GBV are typically analysed in terms of the nature and form of the violence, partly in
terms of developing preventative measures, gaining insight into the patterns of unequal gender norms
across the globe, and for health interventions to response to both physical and psychological trauma.
However, situations of GBV are much more encompassing and represent multiple ontologies and
narratives. We take three contexts of GBV drawn from our areas of expertise. These are areas that will
be explained as extreme settings; again, the challenge is to bring analysis of how we define a context
into question. Our three case stories are the Peruvian Amazon, Afghanistan, and Rwanda – all of
which present significant challenges for GBV prevention and response. Our framework develops a
critique that draws the focus towards GBV, rather than using GBV as the core starting point. Using
the parameters of remoteness, resistance and recovery, respectively, for the Peruvian Amazon,
Afghanistan and Rwanda we highlight under-explored nuances of these extreme settings. We use our
framework to talk about the ways a wider socio-cultural, ecological, and phenomenological landscape
of GBV shapes our understanding of who is affected. The case stories help further our understanding
of those who experience GBV by illustrating ways that such individuals are interconnected and
dynamic within their societies. In other words, GBV is not redundant; by navigating the environment
that creates spaces for GBV, alternative discourses offer opportunities for adaptations and advocacies
that promote the structure of non-violent communities.
Keywords: writing, template, sixth, edition, self-discipline, good
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G4 [36]
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: PUBLIC REACTIONS AND STRATEGIC
INTERVENTIONS
S.A.M. Idris1, N.F.M. Nizar1, K.A. Rasip1, N.N.A. Aziz1 and R.K.R.M. Khalid2
1Johor Empowerment of Intellectual Women Association, Ministry of Women, Family and
Society Development, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
2Department of Women’s Development, Ministry of Women, Family and Society
Development, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
ABSTRACT
This paper was prepared as part of the Domestic Violence (DV) Against Women Research Project
conducted by JEIWA’s Research and Development (R&D) with the support of Department of
Women’s Development in Johor, Malaysia. The paper seeks to explore the factors that contribute to
the public reactions to DV against woman and strategic interventions in increasing public awareness.
Violence against women deprives women of their right to fully take part in social and economic life.
It causes a myriad of physical and mental health issues. An extensive investigation of related literature
and in-depth interview with DV survivors are employed for this purpose. The perspective of Socio-
Cultural Integration will be discussed to describe several attitudes and behaviors. The findings from
this research could help policy makers, authorized agencies and non-governmental organizational
leaders to strategize and adequately craft a suitable and high impact program that suits the target
groups' needs and lifestyle.
Keywords: domestic violence; reactions; victims; perpetrators; violent behaviour
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G5 [37]
ACTION RESEARCH: SURVEY ON SEXUAL HARASSMENT AT THE NALLUR
TEMPLE FESTIVAL, JAFFNA, SRI LANKA, AUGUST 2017
S. Selvaratnam
Independent Researcher, Sri Lanka
ABSTRACT
Men attending the annual Nallur Temple festival in Jaffna, Sri Lanka routinely perpetrate sexual
harassment against women, according to local women’s rights activists. During August 2017 a survey
was conducted at the festival to look at the perceptions and attitudes of those perpetuating harassment
- and also those experiencing it. The intention was to create a reflective, non judgmental space in
order to investigate this usually taboo topic with a randomly selected sample of the public (34 women
and 8 men agreed to take part in the survey). Half of the young men interviewed said they harassed
women at the festival and the other half reported seeing other men harassing women at the festival.
The types of harassment included: comments about women’s bodies, clothing, skin tone, following
women, rubbing their bodies against women, making sexually explicit comments, making physically
vulgar gestures, touching, pinching or gabbing women. All of the men reported that they felt
harassment was wrong, and half of them described it as psychologically harmful for the person
experiencing it. During the interview process it became clear that none of the men had been asked
these sorts of questions before - and that the opportunity to reflect on their behaviour and thoughts
was creating some attitudinal shifts within them. This research is a first step towards understanding
men’s perceptions of harassment, their actions and how it impacts the emotional well being of the
targeted person.
Keywords: sexual harassment, well being, perceptions, men, reflective space, attitudinal shift
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 41
G6 [38]
A CLIMATE OF GENDERED VIOLENCE: INTERSECTIONAL IDENTITIES AND
POLITICS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN
D. Saksena
Institute of Applied Sciences & Humanities, GLA University, Mathura, India
ABSTRACT
Violence is intrinsic to a climate of domination that affects women across cultures. In recent times,
intersectional identity construction and identity-based politics have become a resource for
strengthening communities by promoting informative support networks. However, identity politics
also collides with dominant conceptions of social justice. This paper explores the intersections of race,
color and class that contribute to the modern identity of women and ironically create a climate of
gendered aggression against women in India and the US. I discuss reports of the Nirbhaya gang-rape
and the alleged sati of Roop Kanwar in India, the Ray Rice domestic violence in Baltimore and sexual
violence across the US. The present cultural climate of gender bias tends to polarize identities along
‘either/or’ binaries. Therefore, by applying a transnational and intersectional intellectual framework to
existing multi-layered authoritarian systems I argue that such events exemplify the cultural climate
that accepts such violence because normative cultural codes of gender, sexuality, economics and
social class determine official records and community memories of the brutality suffered by women
and continue to image women as self-rendered targets. While national administrative systems assure
access to legal justice, women are still a marginalized –and silenced--minority denied justice as
citizens in societal and cultural arenas. My effort is to advance an understanding of gendered violence
as a composite product sustained by structures of identity, race, caste, class, sexuality and economics,
and to advocate moving towards holistically secure environments for women in current climates of
violence.
Keywords: identity, intersectional, gender, violence, communities, culture
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 42
G7 [39]
TALES FROM THE INNER QUARTERS: HOW A QUEEN MOTHER AVENGES
HER DAUGHTER’S MURDER AND OTHER STORIES OF EASTERN INDIA
U. Bedamatta
Ravenshaw University, India
ABSTRACT
The Madala Panji (palm-leaf archives maintained in Jagannath temple at Puri in Odisha) records an
incident which occurred nearly one thousand years ago in which a king of the Ganga dynasty
impregnates his daughter and later has her buried alive to save his reputation. This story has been
subjected to revisionist readings in the pre-modern and modern periods in Odisha. Based on close
reading of these revisions and other stories written by women authors in the pre-modern period, this
paper proposes to track the evolution of gender discourse in Odisha. Of particular interest is the
various qualities of the feminine, from forgiveness to fury, that are foregrounded in these texts. Also,
the feminine agency negotiates with patriarchal notions of subservience and surrender in interesting
ways. It not only transforms the male but also tries its best to preserve order and harmony in the
domestic as well as the public sphere.
Keywords: feminine agency, Madala Panji, Odisha
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 43
G8 [40]
HONOR KILLINGS IN MODERN ARAB LITERATURE: FACT AND FICTION
O. Amin
New York University Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
ABSTRACT
Violence against women in its various forms continues to this day and continues to be marginalized.
A clear example of the extremity of violence against women can be seen in what are termed ‘honor
killings’. Throughout history, honor killings have been treated as crimes that warrant slight sentences,
if any, as the female ‘offender’ is accused of breaching the codes of morality and cultural taboos of
her community. In such cases, the male ‘avenger’ tends to be seen as the wronged party, who is
justified in any action he decides to undertake in pursuit of cleansing his defiled honor and that of his
family. Modern Arab literature is filled with such incidents aiming to alert public opinion to the
necessity of saving women from such practices. This paper aims to bridge the gap between fiction and
non-fiction. The first section of the paper gives statistics and examples of honor killings in modern
times focusing on cases from the Arab World. The second section consists of textual analysis of two
phases of Arab writers who use fiction to highlight the atrocity of such crimes and call for putting an
end to violence against women under the name of honor. It is of crucial importance to address such
cultural and social problems by making them part of the political agenda for human rights. Till this
day laws have not been reformed and unless such an action takes place thousands of women
worldwide will continue to lose their lives.
keywords: women's connection ,women's literature, woman & gender studies, honor killings
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 44
G9 [41]
CONSTRUCTING AND DECONSTRUCTING SOCIO-CULTURAL DISCOURSES
FOR HELP SEEKING AFTER DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
S. Rasool
University of Johannesburg, South Africa
ABSTRACT
This article is based on research conducted with seventeen abused women in South Africa, in order to
understand the facilitating and challenging factors that abuse women faced when seeking help for
domestic violence. Abuse history interviews, which lasted between an hour-and-a-half to three hours
long, were conducted with women who have experienced abuse and who sought help from shelters. A
purposive sample of women from Cape Town and Johannesburg women, who met the criteria,
volunteered to participate in this study. In this paper, I provide a theoretical framework for
understanding domestic violence help-seeking in the South African context. I argue that women who
are abused attain empowerment through a process of constructing and de-constructing socio-cultural
norms. The women provided compelling reasons for staying in abusive relationships, which are
embedded in socio-cultural norms- namely, the preservation of family and marriage; the normalisation
of abuse and the best interests of the child. At the same time, in order to attain empowerment abused
women reconstructed/reframed these very socio-cultural norms to attain empowerment. This process
of attaining various levels of agency, through utilising the terms of their oppression, and
reconstructing these socio-cultural norms in order to attain empowerment at certain turning points in
their abuse histories, is discussed in this paper. The paper highlights the high costs of challenging
patriarchy for abused women, but also the ways in which they creatively reconstruct their realities to
escape domestic violence. It is argued in this paper, that abused women ‘rationally’ work within the
patriarchal system to attain freedom from oppression.
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 45
G10 [42]
SEXUAL HARASSMENT ON REPAYMENT OF LOANS IN WOMEN
ENTREPRENEURSHIP; CASE STUDY FROM WAR-TORN AREAS IN SRI LANKA
S. Vijayapala2 and S.P. Jebewathani1
1Post Graduate Institute of Management (PIM), University of Sri Jayewardenapura, Sri
Lanka
2Department of Management of Technology, Faculty of Business, University of Moratuwa,
Sri Lanka
ABSTARCT
Women play a vital role in the family and society and they are the key instrument in creation of
economic value. Women headed households who widowed, deserted and separated in their lifetime,
forced to take responsibility of their families with their own earnings due to the civil war.
Under post war development, Government and financial institutions launched several income
generation activities to enhance their living standard. However, the repayment is the problem and the
key influencing factors are loan amount, interest rate and period. Sometimes the women asked to
pledge their lesser valued properties. Failure or delaying repayment would cause situation of
demanding sexual bribe from the poor women, which would make them in very inconvenient manner.
The data collection for this research are; literature survey of selected case studies and interview
questionnaires/discussions with 10 women entrepreneurs who stopped their entrepreneurship due to
the sexual demands. The results revealed that the women face severe challenges during the repayment
of loans, such as expecting sexual favours by male; genuine way of financing and recovery, lack of
marketing, lack of modern technology use, social and cultural barriers and lack of Governmental
interference. Recommendations are; introduce soft loan schemes for women with standard interest
rate and collaterals; ensure the role of Government on Private financial institutions; using proper
channels for providing loans and repayments; implementing transparent monitoring system; providing
moral support to women to success in their entrepreneurial activities; introducing methods to reduce
the delays of repayments; and educate women entrepreneurs on using modern technology.
Keywords: loan repayment, women entrepreneurship, interest rate, sexual harassment, cultural burrier
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 46
H1 [43]
HIV/AIDS STIGMA: KENYAN WOMEN TELL THEIR STORIES
B. Hampton
Oswego State University of New York, United States
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this paper is to describe stories of Kenyan women’s experiences with HIV/AIDS
stigma, the context in which stigma is experienced, its impact on participants and their response.
Data were collected in 2015, during face-to-face audio taped conversations with twenty-five English-
speaking Kenyan women, over the age of 18, living with HIV/AIDS and receiving services through
Kenya Network of Women with AIDS (KENWA), an agency dedicated to improving the quality of
life for women living with HIV and AIDS and that of their children. Results show the major settings
in which participants experienced HIV/AIDS stigma including their workplace, their home, and their
church. Experiences in these settings left participants with feelings of humiliation and shame followed
by isolation. Results also indicate once involved with KENWA, participants came to accept
HIV/AIDS stigma as part of living with the virus. It was under these circumstances that they refused
to succumb to humiliation and shame and to move away from isolation to become HIV/AIDS activist
in their own communities. Although many people in Kenya have been educated about HIV/AIDS, the
stories Kenyan women tell about their experiences, illustrate stigma’s persistence and there is still a
need for HIV/AIDS education, especially in rural areas. Their connection to Kenya Network of
Women with AIDS also suggests that with adequate training and an effective support system, women
experiencing HIV/AIDS stigma can move beyond humiliation, shame, and isolation, to lives of
dignity and self-respect.
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 47
H2 [44]
SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF WOMEN
A.J.L. Maray1 and C. Priyadharsini2
1Uniphore Software Systems, India
2Tata Consultancy Services, India
ABSTRACT
Does a woman have the liberty to define herself??? How many women have fought against own
psychological barriers and have marched forward??
On a global perspective we can find many women stepping ahead and excelling in almost all fields.
We could find a political woman leader, a doctor, an astronaut etc. But on other side at our own
locality, at our own home we could find women still fighting for her emancipation not just from the
surrounding but from her own self. When human being experience trauma or severe life stressors, it is
not uncommon for their lives to unravel and especially in women. This paper aims at bringing infinite
option when society keeps a gun on the women’s thought freedom. When we magnify the geography
of women from the latitude point of successful and longitude point of unsuccessful women, we saw a
common radiant equator- social factors which Influence their psychological region. This paper aims at
analyzing this important - socio psychological aspects of women for achieving self actualization by
pondering into three vital dimensions –education, employed and unemployed women, health and
nutrition. The study shows the necessity of understanding self actualization and self initiative by every
women folks to locate their individuality along with the support of society which includes each
individual woman, family, government in overcoming the limiting factors which in-turn will create a
strong impact over the nation at wider range.
Keywords: women, society, psychology, education, employment, health
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 48
H3 [45]
PROSPECTIVE MEMORY AND ITS GENDER DIFFERENCES
C.M. Chandrika1 and B.W.D. Raja1
1 Department of Education, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli, India
ABSTRACT
The authors are intended to find whether there is any influence of gender on prospective memory, for
which they review the relevant studies conducted for a decade. The synthesis of findings will reveal
where the gaps are, with regard to various subjects, spectrum of sample level of students etc.
Currently the review studies of fifteen papers will enlighten us a lot about the need for prospective
memory.
Keywords: memory, prospective memory, executive functions, sensory stage, long-term memory
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 49
H4 [46]
LIVES (IN) BETWEEN
A. Mishra1, A. Kumar1, N. Kapoor2, R. Kapoor3, A. Sengupta1, A. Mishra4 and A. Singh3
1Ambedkar University Delhi, India
2PRADAN, India
3 International Institute for Population Sciences, India
4 Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), India
ABSTRACT
Women in development discourse are either an empowered woman or a woman who is seeking
empowerment. And in between lies the normal and mundane which is either not worth mentioning or
beyond the capacity of the development discourse to describe and find value in. Women narratives,
which are individual account of surviving the mundane and normal, brings the real story behind a life
lived in negotiation(s) for survival. Women’s narratives as a methodology in feminist theories have
brought researchers, scholars, historians and practitioners closer to ‘reality’ of women’s lives. Such
narratives represent experience from the perspective of women, affirm the importance of women’s
contributions, and furnish present-day women with historical continuity that is essential to their
identity, individually and collectively. This paper focuses on women’s narratives around changing
agricultural practices affecting the nutrition and health in Jharkhand, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and
Chhattisgarh states of India conducted as a part of action research. The paper will focus on certain
specific questions like- what is the life of an Adivasi woman like in her context? What is being a
woman in her context mean? What is the idea of health in an Adivasi woman’s imagination? What
does agriculture mean to her in relation to her counterpart? What does she think of equality of gender
in relation to labour and nutrition? The paper will try to enter the lives of Adivasi women through
their stories.
Keywords: women’s narratives, Adivasi women, agriculture, nutrition
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 50
H5 [47]
SOCIO-CULTURAL STUDY OF HEROIN USING FEMALE SEX WORKERS IN
THE CITY OF COLOMBO
S.L. Abeysekera
Sri Lanka National Association of Counselors, Sri Lanka
ABSTRACT
This exploratory research focused on the socio cultural background of heroin using female sex
workers in the City of Colombo to discuss their main routes to sexual and heroin using behaviors.
This group of vulnerable females who tend to be a hidden population are not included in the general
population survey. They are socially excluded women involved in sex work and using heroin. This
study examined the links between heroin use and sex work among females and about the environment
in which heroin use and sex work is mutually reinforced.
Interestingly, although there is much focus in on what sex workers do, very little attention is paid as to
how they have come into the profession and why they continue to stay there. As they are a vulnerable
group of people who live in a violent culture, these females are at great risk of psychological and
physiological health related problems. Policy planning and new strategies should be implemented in
the prevention of heroin use and sex work among females in Sri Lanka.
Keywords, female, heroin, sex work, population
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 51
J1 [48]
MALLEABILITY OF GENDER ROLES AND SPATIAL TRANSFORMATION OF
NELIBEWA, SRI LANKA
K. Herath
University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka
ABSTRACT
Sex is biological and Gender is cultural (Fainstein and Servon, 2005, p. 3). With the transformation of
the society and culture, gender roles also transform, and vice versa. Women and their roles in
Nelibewa, Sri Lanka have been transforming rapidly within last several decades. Over the years,
women have become more educated, financially independent and socially responsible by exercising
their agency to respond to various socio-economic changes. Some women play the breadwinner role
in their family, while they also contribute to the housing development, production of inclusive spaces,
and community development in the village. Higher demand for cheap female labor in Free Trade
Zones, Middle East and in the service sector has produced more opportunities for women to get
employed both locally and internationally. While the patriarchal culture in the village pushes women
to stay at the reproduction spaces, the international capitalism pulls them to the production spaces.
Hayden emphasis that women’s problem is paradoxical because they cannot improve their status in
the home unless their overall economic position in society is altered, and women cannot improve their
status in the paid labor force unless their domestic responsibilities are altered (2005, p. 51). However,
the gender roles of men are not as malleable as women’s roles in Nelibewa. Malleability of gender
roles is a crucial attribute in the transformation of the socio-spatial structure of the village. This study
analyses the stories of the villagers, gathered in informal interviews.
Keywords: gender roles, malleability, transformation, socio-spatial structure, patriarchy, inclusive
spaces
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 52
J2 [49]
PADMAAVAT, HONOUR AND JAUHAR: A DISCOURSE ON CULTURAL
FEMINISM AND MOVIE INDUSTRY IN INDIA
W.A.H.C.M. Perera
Faculty of Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka
ABSTRACT
The Bollywood movie Padmaavat was released amidst much uproar and criticisms from multiple
groups for seemingly endorsing the practice of Jauhar (an act of mass self-immolation practiced by
women in early India). On the other hand, it was also argued that the portrayal of Padmavati’s
character shows the courage of Rajput women, in its historical context. Proponents of the movie argue
based on the Director’s freedom of expression, and how the movie only depicts a story that already
existed in the Indian tradition. The question arises, therefore, as to whether a movie that showcases its
heroine’s courage through a glorified scene of Jauhar, is truly an attempt at denigrating women. In
this light, this essay seeks to address the following questions: a) is courage cultural? Can an act of
Jauhar be justified through cultural feminism? b) What is the role of the movie industry in depicting
‘strong’ female characters? and c) what are the implications of glorifying such acts through popular
cinema? The essay will be based on a systemic review of academic articles pertaining to feminist
theory, freedom of expression and comments made by leading feminists and movie critics regarding
the depiction of Jauhar in the movie. In conclusion, it will be argued that movies and their plots do
not exist in a social vacuum. A movie is mere depiction of a society’s popular beliefs, which a
Director capitalizes on. Hence, it is the social institutions that should invite criticism, not the movie
that brings them to light.
Keywords: bollywood, cultural feminism, freedom of expression, honour, movies
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 53
J3 [50]
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION TRENDS AMONGST
FEMALE STUDENTS IN PAKISTANI UNIVERSITIES: VIEW FROM LAHORE
M. Mirza1 and J. Hussain2
1Forman Christian College (A Chartered University) Lahore, Pakistan
2University Utara Malaysia (UUM), Malaysia
ABSTRACT
Young women are not considered to be interested in social and politics issues, even the educated ones.
This is more so in patriarchal developing states like Pakistan. However, things may not be as they are
portrayed. Pakistani female students have strong views. Moreover, as compared to male students they
maybe just as aware and vocal about social and political issue if not more. This paper analyses the
awareness, understanding and participation of female university students in comparison with male
students. An instrument has been used to collect data from three private and three public sector
universities of Lahore. A non-probability convenient based sampling technique has been used.
Whereas, descriptive and inferential statistical analysis are used to have a comparative analysis of
students based on gender and type of university and their interest in civic engagement and political
participation activities. The Public private university distinction is important in Pakistan because
usually private universities cater to upper class and public universities to lower middle class students.
The results have interesting findings, as female students are found to be just as understanding and
accepting towards civic engagement and political participation as male students. Additionally, public
sector university students are more vocal and expressive towards political participation and civic
engagement compare to private sector universities’ students. Youth are the future and a politically
aware and interested female youth has the potential to change the political and social milieu of an
illiberal democracy like Pakistan.
Keywords: female students, civic engagement, political participation, university, Pakistan
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 54
J4 [51]
WOMEN ACADEMIC LEADERS IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN:
PERSPECTIVES OF FEMALE STUDENTS ENROLLED IN HIGHER EDUCATION
DEGREES
A.J. Khokhar
Forman Christian College (A Chartered University), Pakistan
ABSTRACT
A job in the Education sector is considered one of the most suitable jobs for women in Pakistan. This
view has strong roots in religion and culture. The number of women becoming teachers has risen and
their number in other faculties and departments in universities has been rising as Pakistan has opened
new women only universities. These universities have women Vice Chancellors. There are other
universities in Pakistan where men and women study and teach together and none of these have seen a
women as a Vice Chancellor. This question was taken to the female students enrolled in the
postgraduate programmes of three private universities. 10 students were selected from each university
and these were divided into two focus groups. The total number of participants in this research was
30. There were 6 focus groups and each group discussed the question “why are there no women vice
chancellors in Pakistan in universities where both men and women study and teach together?” The
discussions were moderated by the researcher and recorded. Each of the session lasted for about 35
minutes. The three main reasons gathered from these group discussions for women not being able to
break the glass ceiling are family, culture and religion. The group members believed that they cannot
rise to the top position in any higher education institute unless supported by the men in their family
and the institute they are part of.
Keywords: women educator, higher education, academic leaders
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 55
J5 [52]
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT, EDUCATION AND TRANSFORMATION: A CASE
STUDY OF PAKISTAN
S. Muneer
University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
ABSTRACT
Education is the essential component to change the life of every child either girl or boy.
Unfortunately, most of the societies still part of gender discrimination in all facets of life and this
discrimination with females is well known from womb to tomb. In Pakistan, situation is not entirely
different where women empowerment and education of girls has always been a subjective matter of
discussion at all forums. This paper re-examines the relationship between education and women
empowerment and reviews the current situation of women’s education in Pakistan. The focus of this
paper is to evaluate the how much education play a fundamental role in transforming the women
status in Pakistan. Simultaneously, this paper examines the intrinsic and extrinsic challenges towards
the education and transformation of women in Pakistan. This study has been conducted through
multiple stage cluster sampling, a survey questionnaire and focused group discussions.
Keywords: women empowerment, education, transformation, challenges, Pakistan
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 56
J6 [53]
THE UNDEFEATED MONSTER OF HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY IN HUNTER’S
RUN
P. Fišerová
Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
ABSTRACT
Taken for granted, normalized as a non-category, and thus invisible, masculinity used to be a topic
that escaped academic attention. This changed with the postmodern tendency to question and
deconstruct dominant narratives. Hegemonic masculinity was quickly identified as boys’ and men’s
pursued ideal; the privileges it promises, however, come with many dangers towards women, other
men, as well as oneself. These complexities have captured the interest of multiple literary scholars,
and I join them with an analysis of Hunter’s Run (2007), an American sci-fi novel for mature
audiences authored by George R. R. Martin, Gardner Dozois, and Daniel Abraham. The novel is filled
to the brim with commentary on ‘real’ men, ‘proper’ men, ‘good’ men, men as their own species, and
mankind’s colonialist efforts in space. Most importantly, confronting hegemonic masculinity forms a
crucial plot point when the protagonist encounters his clone and realizes he despises his own gender
performance even more than the aliens he is fighting. Despite all these direct and indirect criticisms
and the promises Ramón makes to himself about becoming a better man, the novel has an
anticlimactic ending with Ramón’s behavior changing very little, making Hunter’s Run one in a line
of novel-shaped critiques of traditional masculinity ideals that offer no alternative solutions. The
authors do not help the issue by describing Hunter’s Run as a book about ‘humanity and identity’
rather than masculinity, attempting to make the topic an invisible one yet again.
Keywords: masculinity, hegemonic, invisible, criticism, deconstruction
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 57
J7 [54]
GENDERED LIFE CHOICE AND GENDERED SUCCESS: CASE STUDIES OF
NEPALI WOMEN MIGRANTS IN JAPAN
M. Tanaka
Sophia University, Japan
ABSTRACT
Gender and migration is a relevant topic to monitor indicators of SDGs - women empowerment (Goal
5) and growth and decent work (Goal 8). Women and men migrate for similar aims – to study abroad,
to pursue higher salary, or to flee conservative society. However, women have different pull and push
factors of migration, as daughters, as wives, and as mothers, which surely influence their priorities,
either pursuing own carriers, sending remittance, or serving for their families at their destinations.
Migrant women’s lives vary by their legal and social statuses. However, scholarly works on gender
and migration have been done mostly about women migrants working as caregivers. The study aims
to examine empowerment of women migrants from Nepal to Japan. The research is based on mixed
methods, questionnaire survey and multi-sited ethnography. The study illustrates lives of Nepali
women in Japan categorized in 4 groups by visa categories and social status, 1) dependent status
living with husbands working for Indo-Nepali restaurants, 2) dependent status living with husbands
working for global IT companies, 3) student status originally from low-income group and migrated to
earn money, and 4) student or professional status originally from high-income group to develop their
carriers. They have differences in integration and exposure to local communities in Japan where the
gender gap is higher than that of Nepal. The study concludes that empowerment of migrant women is
influenced by the level of women empowerment in the destination countries and by their own goal
setting regardless of their backgrounds.
Keywords: migration, gender, empowerment, Nepal, Japan
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 58
J8 [55]
WIDOWS AND CONCUBINES: TRADITION AND DEVIANCE IN THE WOMEN
OF KANTHAPURA
M.E.P. Ranmuthugala
General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Sri Lanka
ABSTRACT
Raja Rao’s 1938 novel Kanthapura points to the impact of Gandhian thought on women and men, and
this research focuses on the novel’s fashioning of female identities in terms of nationalism as
espoused by Gandhi and his followers. This analytical research paper hypothesizes that although
women constitute a considerable part of the narrative and have political agency, their identity is
molded by men to serve the men’s nationalist interests: The paper is based on the contention that
women have to undergo transformation and refashioning of their identities for nationalism. The novel
provides a strong argument for Gandhi’s political ethic of empowering people, but the paper also
looks at Ambedkar’s impact on India. The novel engages with diverse issues such as nationalism,
religion, caste, sexuality, and feminism. Using close reading, this paper focuses on nationalism using
a comparison of the village and the city through attention to concepts of imagined communities,
women’s education, modernism and traditionalism. In addition, the paper draws heavily from gender
and feminist theory along with performativity theory especially in relation to the asexuality assigned
to women by Gandhi. The goal of the paper is to understand if Rao’s novel Kanthapura is a feminist
text that allows agency for women especially within the two discourses of politics and nationalism.
The paper hopes to contribute new insight to existing literature, which mainly deals with nationalism
and caste, through a critical reading of the novel using nationalism and feminism as its lens.
Keywords: nationalism, feminism, Gandhi, sexuality, political agency, identity
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 59
K1 [56]
TRENDS IN CONTRACEPTIVE USE SOME EXPERIENCES FROM INDIA AND
HER NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES
S. Ghosh
Scottish Church College, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
ABSTRACT
Analysis of data sets on contraceptive use is important to assess the effectiveness of policy decisions
towards meeting the Millennium Development Goal that endeavours to ensure universal access to
contraceptive use. The paper therefore attempts to estimate the trends in the contraceptive use and
unmet need in India and her major neighbouring counties during the recent past based on the data base
provided by the United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division
(2017). The study estimated the trends in the percentage of women who want to avoid pregnancy, by
using modern contraceptives or used traditional methods or no methods. The percentage women in
India using modern methods increased from 42.3 percent in 2000 to 47.8 percent in 2016. The figures
for Bangladesh stand at 44 percent and 53.9 respectively, during the same period. However the
experience for Pakistan is not encouraging. The percentage of women using modern contraceptives in
Sri Lanka stand at 52.9 percent in 2007. The paper concludes that for healthy upbringing of children
birth spacing is important for women and the family. To meet the unmet need for use of modern
contraceptives, the south Asian countries need to improve availability of resources for timely delivery
of contraceptive services. The countries under study have long to go to meet the unfinished
Millennium Development Goal. Proper dispersal of education among our girls can increase the
efficacy of appropriate social interventions
Keywords: India, neighbouring countries, contraceptive use, unmet needs, United Nations
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 60
K2 [57]
CHOOSING PERMANENT CONTRACEPTIVE METHODS: SRI LANKAN
WOMEN’S EXPERIENCES UNDER THE SHADOWS OF PATRIARCHY AND
PATERNALISM
N. Mendis and H. Rathnamalala
University of Colombo, Sri Lanka
General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Sri Lanka
ABSTRACT
This paper discusses the right of Sri Lankan women to seek and receive permanent contraceptive
methods (PCM) through public and private health services and presents the restrictions of women’s
right to equality through case studies illustrating women’s lived experiences. The initial research
indicates that women’s stories illustrate ‘unofficial policy’, underlying socio-political issues and
general social attitudes and stereotypes concerning women’s bodies, particularly their fertility,
reproductive choice, family size and concepts of ideal motherhood within society, which can restrict
women’s rights and choice even in the absence of a law or official policy which denies them the right
to make these decisions. The research methodology uses mixed methods: firstly, analysis using
feminist legal research methodology, with reference to international legal standards; secondly,
selected case studies using purposive sampling and gathered using qualitative methods to reflect the
stories of women of different generations and social classes of Sri Lanka; thirdly, expert interviews
with health care providers in the area of family planning in Sri Lanka, which will be carried out for
the confirmatory purposes. This paper identifies, in the denial of a woman’s choice, violations of a
woman’s right to health, reproductive rights and the right to privacy. These rights are also dimensions
in the prism of the concept of equality and the violations can be traced to patriarchal societal norms
and the paternalism of the health system which deems adult women as not fully capable of making the
choice of receiving permanent contraceptive methods. The purpose of this research is to identify
recommendations for progressive changes in law and policy and to determine a framework for further
research on the sources of these restrictions.
Keywords: permanent contraceptive methods, women’s right to health, choice, reproductive rights
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 61
K3 [58]
WOMEN AND ACCESS TO FAMILY PLANNING WOMEN’S RIGHT TO DECIDE:
A DISTANT REALITY IN INDIA
S. Chauhan
Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, India
ABSTRACT
214 million women of reproductive age in developing countries who want to avoid pregnancy are not
using a modern contraceptive method. Every time a woman cannot decide freely the number or timing
of her children or is denied access to quality family planning services, her basic human right is
violated. According to the United Nations Population Fund, the right to sexual and reproductive
health is an essential component of the right to life, the right to health, the right to education and the
right to equality and non- discrimination. Societal norms and attitudes about masculinity and femininity
resulting in gender related norms have led to women not being able to exercise their rights impacting their
health and well-being.
When women have the right to freely decide whether, when and how many children they want to have,
they can make responsible decisions about their own bodies. This has an impact on their health and
impacts the health and overall development of the family. Irrespective of their economic strata, all
women should have access to high-quality health services. Arming them with the right tools and
knowledge about reproductive health will put them in charge of making significant decisions like
family planning. When women are in charge of planning their family, everyone benefits. Using
contraception and adopting family planning not only allows people to attain their desired number of
children and determine the spacing of pregnancies but also reduces the rates of unintended
pregnancies, infant and maternal mortality.
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 62
K4 [59]
A STUDY ON IMPACT OF INCREASED ACCESS TO FAMILY PLANNING ON
FERTILITY AND HEALTH AMONG RURAL WOMEN AT TAMIL NADU, INDIA
T. Murugesan1 and K.R. Murugan2
1Centre for Women’s Studies, Alagappa University, Tamil Nadu, India
2Department of Social Work, Alagappa University, Tamil Nadu, India
ABSTRACT
Improving access to family planning in Tamil; Nadu has the potential to help women and couples
achieve their desired family size and avert unintended pregnancies and unwanted births. It may also
have longer-term effects by improving women’s health, educational attainment, and socio-economic
status of rural women in India. However, little is actually known about the effectiveness of family
planning. The poorest couples have the highest fertility, the lowest contraceptive use and the highest
unmet need for contraception. It is also in the low resource settings where maternal and child
mortality is the highest. Family planning can contribute to improvements in maternal and child health,
especially in low resource settings where overall access to health services is limited. Family planning
programmes should take primary responsibility for disseminating accurate information and correcting
misinformation. A couple's acceptance of modern methods is all too often limited because they do not
know how modern methods work or they think methods have an adverse influence on their ability to
conceive later. In Tamil Nadu, Innovations for Poverty Action is working with researchers to measure
how an increase in access to family planning through information, transportation, and reimbursements
for family planning services impacts women’s fertility, health, and well-being. The Paper based on
Content Analysis
Keywords: women, child, health, family planning, society, fertility
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 63
L1 [60]
THE ACTS OF SILENCE AND THE SECRETS WE KEEP: YOUTH DISRUPTING
A CULTURE OF CONCEALMENT
R. Mahadev1 and N. de Lange1
1 Nelson Mandela University, South Africa
ABSTRACT
South Africa has the highest incidence of sexual violence in the world with society often appearing
complacent having become accustomed to the high levels of sexual violence. This however is
changing and diverse voices are emerging as resistance to sexual violence. Ending gender-based
violence against Indian girls and women is a challenge - in a patriarchal society where traditional
practices consign women to a position of subjugation which contributes to their susceptibility to
sexual violence. This presentation focuses on Indian secondary school youth in Durban, South Africa
– where the biggest Indian community outside of India is found - and explores how they as youth
understand sexual violence and how they see preventing sexual violence from happening in their
community. The participants, experts of insider knowledge, were Indian boys and girls who were
purposively selected from a secondary school in Durban. A participatory visual research approach as
‘research as intervention’, located within a critical paradigm, was used. The theory of triadic influence
informed the meaning making of the findings as well as the preventive intervene. The findings
suggest that Indian youths’ understanding of sexual violence pivots around a culture of concealment
in which veiling sexual violence is the required norm. Using participatory video enabled the youth to
interrogate and reflect - affording them an opportunity to draw from their own experiences and
interpret it in the context of sexual violence in South Africa - creating new knowledge enabling the
beginning of a disruption of the ‘culture of concealment’ through taking action.
Keywords: Indian community, Indian culture, youth, participatory video, secondary school learners,
sexual violence
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 64
L2 [61]
WOMEN TRAFFICKING: A STUDY OF ITS IMPACT TOWARDS
EMPOWERMENT
N. Arora
Banasthali Vidyapith, India
ABSTRACT
This paper attempts to analyze the Human trafficking impact in jeopardizing the women
empowerment in India. In present era women empowerment has turned out to be a most paramount
concern of 21st century. In our day to day life we see that how women’s are victimized by human
trafficking. Human trafficking is becoming a budding international trade day by day which hampered
the dignity and freedom of women. In an unreasonable commercialization of mankind, women are
utilized like items and after that discarded. Today gender discrimination prevails in a rampant manner
even in a society of universal equality which exasperates human trafficking. This lucrative trafficking
comes out to be obstruction in women empowerment. Women empowerment is a myth of realism.
This paper will be based on the secondary data and its primary aim or focus has been to throw light on
the women education, changes in social structure, raise awareness, encourage their involvement in
various aspects etc., which enables women empowerment and also help in curbing the human
trafficking. Finally, the recommendations are added which can further help to stop this special perils.
Keywords: human trafficking, women empowerment, equality, gender, discrimination, women
education etc
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 65
L3 [62]
PRIORITIZING THE WOMEN’S VOICE ON MATTERS AFFECTING THEM:
INTERVENTIONS WITH DOMESTICALLY VIOLENT MEN
H.J. McLaren, J. Fischer and L. Zannettino
Flinders University, Australia
ABSTRACT
Our standpoint is that interventions with men who perpetrate intimate partner violence (IPV) should
result in measurable improvements to the quality of life (QOL) of women. In Australia and
internationally, however, assessing men’s violence reduction programs on the basis of changes to
women’s quality of life (QOL) is not currently practiced. Services tend to focus on program outcome
indicators, such as men’s stated acknowledgement of responsibility for their violence, men’s self-
reports on behavioral change, women’s reporting on the men’s change, quasi-experimental testing,
and/or reduction in recidivism rates. Existing outcome reports on interventions with violent men are
laden with equivocal results, and researchers frequently determine program outcomes they deem
important for women. Despite good intentions, the women’s voice has been silenced here on issues
affecting them. In this paper we report on emerging dialogues that favor the use of women’s QOL
measures, including women’s articulation of their preferences for a better life. In cherishing the
vernacular of ‘getting your life back’, we draw on interviews with 100 women and argue that
improving the lives of women has to better utilize research and evaluation methodologies responsive
to the articulated needs and life preferences of women. However, this is futile when interventions with
violent men are not informed by the voice of women. It is the women who are most set to benefit from
men’s violence reduction programs. It is timely that the women’s voices are heard.
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 66
L4 [63]
SILENT PROTESTS AND SILENT POWER: HOW WOMEN USE SILENCE AS A
FORM OF AGENCY
G.J. Gatwiri
Southern Cross University, Australia
ABSTRACT
One of the major scholarly debates in feminist discourses is identifying ways in which women’s
ability to speak for themselves get silenced. While feminism encourages women to speak out,
sometimes using their voice could mean putting women in danger of being hurt, abused, or ostracised
further. Therefore, some women learn how to protest, rebel, and challenge oppression through their
silences. In this paper I ask, can silence be used as a tool of resistance and transformation- and does it
have a place in feminist scholarship? And, should feminism encourage silence as another empowering
form of agency?
I argue that silence, secrecy and ‘passivity’ can take many forms and shapes. I draw from recent
Social Work research with women in Kenya to show how silence can be an effective tool with which
to interrupt power, abuse and oppression. Understanding how these forms of “silent protests” exist as
power in themselves, provides a platform in which we can renegotiate and reframe the place of silence
in feminist discourses. There is evidence to suggest that the transformative nature of silent protests
adopted by women and girls across the globe, redefine how silence, secrecy, and passivity can be
effective and gradual tools for negotiations. It is therefore necessary to rethink silence as a space
where profound possibilities exist especially for women living in heavily patriarchal societies.
Keywords: silence, Patriarchy, feminism, women, silence as power, silent agency
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 67
M1 [64]
ADVANCING WIDESPREAD RAPE AS JUS COGENS NORM
A. Alexander
West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (WBNUJS), India
ABSTRACT
‘Widespread Rape’ in the context of International law as principle of Jus Cogens norm remains rather
obscure. For most part rape as an international crime is clubbed with other towering crimes like
Genocide or Crimes Against Humanity. The article attempts to establish the fact that rape as a distinct
crime has attained Jus Cogens status through opinion juris and state practice in the course of which
the author would throw light into the jurisprudence of International Criminal Tribunal For Former
Yugoslavia (ICTY), International Criminal Tribunal For Rwanda and pin point cases cutting across
jurisdiction special reference is rendered to path breaking cases like Prosecutor v. Kunarac. The
limitation in available literature on the definition of rape is also put to test by the researcher; the
obtainable sources are traced, laying emphasis specifically on Article 27 of Fourth Geneva
Convention. The researcher also magnifies the preamble of the U.N Charter to identify gender
equality. Besides the available works in general international law, the author consciously harbors on
special international law like the Convention on the elimination of racial discrimination (CEDAW),
Convention against torture (CAT). The other side of the article deliberates on the customary
international aspects and impediments in attainment of Jus Cogens. In the final part of the article, the
research insidiously travels to the advantages and disadvantages on giving the normative status to
crime of widespread rape, advantage in terms of overpowering jurisdictional hurdles of consent and
disadvantage of state sovereignty coupled with political interest is extensively debated.
Keywords: Geneva Conventions, ICTY, ICTR, Kunarac, UN Charter
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 68
M2 [65]
A CRITICAL STUDY ON HINDU WOMAN’S RIGHT TO PROPERTY AND TO
DIVORCE: BANGLADESH PERSPECTIVE
R. Khatun1 and F. Abedin1
1Department of Law, East West University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
ABSTRACT
Much has been debated on the issue of hindu woman’s right to property and right to divorce under the
orthodox hindu legal regime in Bangladesh. Hindu being the minor community in Bangladesh has
been in deprivation of the utility of the expected changes and hence a flagrant non-compliance with
the universal human rights normative framework as to twin principles of equality and non-
discrimination and its own constitutional fundamental rights. Instead of being hindu majority-based
country, India has brought a radical change in their personal laws affecting hindu women rights along
with other areas. This paper demonstrates the laws that apply in Bangladesh comparing with India and
some other countries and it has been tried to find out the practical reasons behind unwillingness to
reform the hindu personal laws regarding property and divorce right in Bangladesh. At the same time
this article aims to focus on constitutional validity of un-unified personal laws in Bangladesh which
affect the hindu women and create a safeguard for sustaining of age old patriarchal system of our
society. In spite of having many limitations it is our belief that our little attempt will create a robust
voice for woman’s right in Bangladesh which already declared by Vienna Declaration as human rights
for all the country. Besides, this study will try to find out the non-equality between right based and
liability creating legislations for the women in Bangladesh.
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 69
M3 [66]
GENDER EQUALITY AND DECENT WORK FOR FEMALE SEX WORKERS IN
JAMAICA
R.M. Mitchell
The University of the West Indies Mona Campus, Jamaica
ABSTRACT
Women in developing countries face more complex challenges as they are more likely to be
unemployed than men, be a part of informal and part time work. Work is an essential component of
human existence and women should be able to pursue decent work which is free from discrimination
and stigma with satisfactory conditions. The situation becomes even more complex for female sex
workers, who are at a greater disadvantage because of the gender inequality that exists in the society.
The fact that there are no entrenched laws that protect female sex workers from the numerous
vulnerabilities (like; human trafficking) and the exploitation that they are susceptible to, means that
they face further marginalization from the labour force and other areas that are basic to human
existence such as; access to health care.
This paper examines the important role that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can play on
highlighting women equality and their ability to derive the benefit of decent work. Additionally, it
argues for the inclusion of female sex workers in any discussion on women equality and decent work.
Decent work principles should be applied to this group with the view to reduce the multiple forms of
exploitation that plague them. The issue is of importance on various levels including; better access to
health care, expansion of human and labour rights and towards a more entrenched social policy, that
will offer further social protection to female sex workers and that may also have positive implications
for the larger society.
The global goals in particular numbers five and eight present an opportunity to highlight the unique
circumstances of female sex workers. This paper provides some recommendations to improve the
situation of all women and in particular sex workers for the attainment of a more inclusive
development. Furthermore, the paper outlines the role of civil society in the fulfillment of the SDGs
for all and especially for this socially excluded group.
Keywords: women equality, sex workers, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), social protection
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 70
N1 [67]
WOMEN ADAPTATION RESPONSES TO CLIMATE CHANGE AND POVERTY IN
ZIMBABWE: A CASE OF BINDURA DISTRICT
L. Musevenzo
Zimbabwe Ezekiel Guti University, Zimbabwe
ABSTRACT
In a landmark declaration, the United Nations General Assembly in 1986 proclaimed the right to
development as a human right. By this, it meant that development belongs to everyone, individually
and collectively, with no discrimination and with peoples’ participation. However, this has not been
the case in Bindura district of Zimbabwe considering the manner in which the negative effects of
climate change which include poverty have been addressed in Zimbabwe. To that end, this paper
examines climate change adaptation responses adopted in Bindura from a gendered standpoint and
further interrogates whether these are gender sensitive considering the levels of poverty among men
and women in Bindura. To deduce the extent to which climate change adaptation responses adopted in
Bindura are gender sensitive, on-site observations of climate change adaptation responses in Bindura
were made. By extension, qualitative research methodologies such as in-depth interviews were
employed. Secondary data sources from literature around climate change adaptation responses and
poverty among women were also used. Over and above this paper concludes that within Bindura
District men assume that giving women knowledge about climate change adaptation strategies will
ultimately lead to women insubordination which is one of the African retrogressive societal beliefs.
This also further contributes to poverty among women in Bindura as sometimes women lack access to
appropriate tools and technology. This study therefore submits that relevant stakeholders should put in
place effective measures to make sure that women are economically and socially empowered to adapt
to the dire effects of climate change.
Keywords: climate change, climate change adaptation, gender, gender equality, sustainable
development
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 71
N2 [68]
PARTICIPATION AND VOICE OF WOMEN IN COMMUNITY-BASED
ORGANIZATION (A SPECIAL REFERENCE TO MATHAGAL EAST RURAL
WATER SUPPLY)
C. Balachandran
Department of Geography, University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka
ABSTRACT
Participation of Women in Community-Based Organizations has significance for the controlled access
of community resources, enhanced decision-making and chipping away at socio-cultural norms that
constrain women’s voice. Women empower the programmes managed by the community with an
initial support from governments or international organizations are considered as a useful strategy to
provide safe drinking water to rural communities in the world to achieve the “gender equality”,
sustainable development goal of UN. Across the developing countries, studies show that the Women
are active participants in CBOs but they are still underrepresented in leadership positions, and
entrenched traditional views and cultural practices continue to restrict their public roles. This research
aims to identify the participation and capability of women in community-based organizations to
manage rural water supply. Furthermore, this study tends to propose some recommendations to
enhance the women participation in CBOs. Primary data were collected by field observation,
interview, questionnaire survey and discussion methods and secondary data were obtained from
different official sources. Research samples were selected through Simple Random sampling method.
Descriptive statistical analysis was used for this study. The study concludes that the women
participate actively in CBOs during various stages and hold higher positions in the CBOs. Women in
the CBOs are capable to manage the rural water supply with sustainability. Poor education and
leadership, socio cultural influences, domestic and family responsibilities and religious beliefs are
some factors hindering the women’s participation in CBOs. Some useful recommendations are
proposed here to enhance women’s participation in CBOs. These findings help the researchers,
planners, policy makers and graduates to advance women’s participation in CBOs.
Keywords: women participation, community based organizations, rural water supply
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 72
N3 [69]
THE DYNAMICS OF GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT: A JAMAICAN
PERSPECTIVE
I.O. Boxill and D.K. Fletcher
The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica
ABSTRACT
One of the barriers to human development in the twenty-first century is gender inequality. Today in
some regions of the world and in some sections of the Jamaican society there is a large concentration
of females in non-technical jobs, while their male counterparts are actively engaged in the more
technical jobs. Notwithstanding this, the evidence is pointing to a change in how gender roles are
perceived. A review of the literature reveals a sociological context for this perception which is based
on a tradition of patriarchy and gender inequality. For years many Caribbean scholars have focused on
the impact of slavery and colonialism on gender roles and have argued that slavery resulted in
different types of gender roles among Caribbean black men and women as compared to women in
other countries. Despite the fact that many Caribbean women are seen as being more "liberated" than,
say, their American counterparts, there still exists a patriarchal ideology within the region which
influences gender roles. Drawing on a survey of lower to lower-middle income communities together
with a review of official statistics the paper sought to determine the extent to which perceptions of
gender roles have remained stereotypical in regard to the household and the workplace? Also
explored, is the extent to which men and women are still seen as differently-abled in regard to
technical jobs? The paper presents data on the views of the residents and makes a comparison with
findings of a previous study conducted in 1997. Finally, recommendations aimed at promoting greater
level of gender parity within the Jamaican labour market are shared.
Keywords: gender roles, patriarchy, inequality
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 73
Q1 [70]
SINGLE WOMEN AND CHANGING VALUES: CONTESTING INSTITUTION OF
MARRIAGE
S. Awasthi and S. Sharma
National Human Rights Commission and Delhi University, India
ABSTRACT
The paper is based on a qualitative research that was undertaken with seven single women in the
metropolitan city of Delhi. The paper analyzes the reasons for the single women to consciously make
a choice to abstain or delay marriage. Marriage is considered as one of the most important social
institution in our society and women’s centrality to this social institution has been a topic of
discussion in class rooms and academic platforms. The very notion of society is seen to be dependent
upon marriage and kinship. In recent years, India has witnessed a significant shift in the rise of single
women. Single women in India-never married, divorced, separated, widowed-comprise nearly 12
percent of our female population. It’s a demography that is rapidly expanding: Between 2001 and
2011, there was a 39 percent increase in the number of single women as reported by the Census of
India. In-depth interviews with seven single women, who have never been married, revealed that their
idea of marriage had shifted with their age and the factors contributing towards the shift were; the
effect of parents’ marriage, past relationships and its impact and the portrayal of marriage by others.
The paper discusses the cultural lag in the value system which is existent in India, at individual and
social levels. Women are questioning the social institution of marriage and consequently the conflict
between their individual value system and those of the society is coming to the forefront. The cultural
lag, in terms of values has widened and there are two sets of values and ideas which are moving
parallel to each other but are in conflict. This paper analyzes the existent cultural lag in India at
individual and social levels when women contest marriage and the traditional value framework
associated with the institution.
Keywords: culture, values, marriage, single women
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 74
Q2 [71]
THE PRACTICE OF SURROGACY IN SRI LANKA: A DILEMMA BETWEEN
BODILY AUTONOMY, LAW AND CULTURE
A.H.M.D.L. Abeyrathna
Faculty of Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka
ABSTRACT
Recent trends indicate that Sri Lanka is emerging as a destination for couples seeking surrogate
mothers. Though it is quite difficult to obtain specific statistics, its popularity in Sri Lanka can be
observed, as persons willing to contribute as surrogate mothers are creating web pages, publishing
their details. Lack of legal provisions regulating this practice and the inexpensive medical procedure
involved can be identified as the reasons behind the surge of this practice in Sri Lanka. Despite the
broad scope for discussion presented by this practice, there is a significant lack of academic research
pertaining to surrogacy. This paper mainly focuses on the rights of surrogate mothers with special
reference to their bodily autonomy. For this purpose, this research mainly addresses following
questions: (a) the conflict between bodily autonomy of the surrogate mother and the Sri Lankan
social-cultural beliefs; (b) issues regarding the consent of surrogate mother and (c) the conflict
between government intervention and bodily autonomy of the surrogate mother. For this purpose, a
desk review of existing international human rights instruments will be followed by a comparative
analysis of domestic and foreign legislation, academic articles and reports by recognized
organizations from Sri Lanka and other jurisdictions. Interviews with key informants involved in
facilitating the surrogacy processes will also be conducted. In conclusion, the research paper proposes
a regulatory mechanism by the State that will ensure the bodily autonomy of surrogate mothers in Sri
Lanka, and adequate policies to ensure their safety and social protection.
Keywords: surrogacy, surrogate mother, bodily autonomy
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 75
Q3 [72]
INTERSECTIONALITY AND CHILD MARRIAGE: A PERSPECTIVE ON SRI
LANKA
S. Ravi
Lowa State University Alumni, United States
ABSTRACT
Child marriage is shockingly a global issue prevalent mostly in developing nations, such as Sri Lanka.
Even though Sri Lanka does not have as much high numbers of child marriage like other South Asian
nations, it is salient that this issue should still be discussed. In this literature review, factors of
intersectionality are used to take a look at the role child marriage plays in Sri Lanka. The factors listed
are gender, culture, religion, and socio-economic status. This paper also takes a deeper look into how
each factor specifically contributes to child marriage. While referring to sources such as UNICEF and
GirlsNotBrides, we can discuss the past, current trends, and how the future for child marriage looks in
Sri Lanka. Most importantly, can Sri Lanka eventually be recognized as a role model for the
elimination of child marriage? From all the research collected, it can be stated that with the right
changes, Sri Lanka can eliminate child marriage.
Keywords: child marriage, Sri Lanka, gender, culture, religion, socio-economic status
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 76
Q4 [73]
RETHINKING VIOLENCE, UNDERSTANDING DOMESTICITY:
A. Sinha
Ambedkar University, Delhi, India
ABSTRACT
The paper here presents the work done in a village of Chhattisgarh; called Dokal. The work was
premised on the incidents of domestic violence in the village. I will try to invoke the question of
‘domesticity’ through the stories of three women who were the victims of Domestic Violence. Story
of Lata Netam (Badi Maa), who can never bear a child and endure violence (manifested and latent)
silently. Second is the story of Duleshwari, who is a mother of three years old daughter and tolerate
physical and sexual violence by her husband and mother-in-law in order to get a boy child. Third is
the story of Lata Bai, who is a single woman and lives with her three children had an abusive husband
remembers her pain but at the same time desires it in order to get rid of the loneliness. I chose these
stories because I shared an intimate relation with these women. This work is premised on a critique of
androcentrism in women’s everyday in the village, even if domestic violence is not there. The
woman’s world rotates around the man; her pleasure also rotates around the man. The tragedy is that
the opposition to this in Dokal was also taking an androcentric form (man’s perspective). The
immediate solution to this problem is thought through Laathi (stick; a red blooded phallus). The
action research work, I tried to develop in Dokal was done with forty women from the village who
call themselves; Sangwari1 (I am also a part of this group). With the group, we were trying to find an
alternative to the issue by keeping ‘domestic’ in focus. Women’s everyday and women’s resistance
both have a problem. Thus, the work is to look into (re)subjectivation. Shifts from being a scared
woman to a resistant one to an empowered woman and again enters the house as a scared woman
makes the space and relationality between women in a group and members of a family much more
complex. With this paper, I will try to explain the understanding of domestic in these women’s lives
and how the space and relation of ‘domestic’ could be rethought?
Keywords: domesticity, violence, fear, care, Sangwari
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 77
R1 [74]
THE MARKETING OF FEMALE "SHE-AGRA": MEN AND WOMEN'S
PERSPECTIVES ON WOMEN'S SEXUAL DESIRE
E. Friedmann and J. Cwikel
University of Bar Ilan, Israel
ABSTRACT
The objective of this research was to examine gender differences in the perceived value of a drug to
treat women's female sexual dysfunction (FSD) and explore the factors that affect women's sexual
desire as perceived by both women and men. The effect of information on side effects and the
questionable efficacy of flibanserin (marketed as Addyi) on perceived value of the drug was also
examined among women and men. Survey data was collected from a convenience sample of 233
men and women with a current sexual partner who answered an online questionnaire. The results
showed that women and men assigned similar values to the medication, but after receiving
information about the drug, a larger decrease was observed in the evaluations of women. When
evaluating women's sexual desire, interpersonal variables such as communication with the partner
were significant among women but not among men. Huge challenges are expected when marketing
any drug to women for treatment of FSD as women are complex decision makers, who incorporate
interpersonal factors together with other factors when evaluating their sexual desire.
Keywords: sexual desire of women, sexual dysfunction, marketing Addyi, gender differences
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 78
R2 [75]
THE HIDDEN IDENTITY: EXPLORING EXPERIENCES OF ONE OF THE
YOUNGEST TRANSGENDER WOMAN IN INDIA
A. Chawla
Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India
ABSTRACT
The transgender community in India today is subject to discrimination, antagonism and rejection, and
kept at bay from the normative paradigm set by society. Transgender individuals are excluded from
normal social and cultural life, and are not granted basic human rights because of their gender
dysphoria. This paper is the case analysis of a young woman dealing with stressful life situations and
consequent coping mechanisms employed, supported by suggested interventions. I embarked on this
project with the intention to understand the dilemmas and the coping mechanisms adopted by
members of the transgender community, after putting away my lens that proclaimed a gender binary.
A sixteen-year-old student, renowned for being one of the first few Indians outspoken about her
transgender identity, is the subject of this study. Her story has already struck a chord with people
across the country. The case study method employed an idiographic approach under which Free
Association, Semi-Structured Interview and the Bem’s Sex Role Inventory were administered.
Accordingly, the thematic analysis was conducted to focus on recurrent ideas like childhood
memories, hardships faced, societal influences, self-perception, physical and psychological concerns,
wishes, desires and future goals. The learned result was that the subject faced incredibly stressful
experiences and employed certain coping mechanisms that cisgender individuals do not.
Keywords: femininity, gender, sexuality, sex, transgender, and woman
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 79
R3 [76]
PSYCHOSOCIAL INTERVENTION FOR JAMAICAN TEEN MOMS: WHAT DOES
GENDER HAVE TO DO WITH IT?
T.A. McFarlane
The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica
ABSTRACT
Youth well-being has been the focus of various projects around the world. In Jamaica, these efforts
include improving outcomes for youth of lower socioeconomic status, with an eye to reducing the
vulnerabilities associated with this developmental stage and being of a low-resource background.
Among these, teenage girls who become pregnant are uniquely vulnerable: Without fundamental
supports the outcomes can be devastating for them, their children and their families. With reference to
a support group that is currently being facilitated at an urban high school in Jamaica, the author will
highlight the complexity of gender meanings and roles that affect efforts to increase resilience and
reduce risk among teen moms. Now in its fourth year, we have aimed to encourage collaborative
ownership of the project, strengthen the supportive features of the group, and safeguard its continuity.
The presenter will outline the project’s features, discuss challenges and triumphs we encountered, and
highlight the way psychological and socioculturally meaningful considerations of gender are
necessary to maintain the project and ensure its desired impact.
Keywords: youth well-being, teen moms, youth risk and resilience, youth PAR interventions
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 80
R4 [77]
THE GENDER SYMBOLISM PROCESS IS A WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT TOOL:
A CASE OF ELECTRONIC RESOURCES AWARENESS TRAININGS FOR
UPTAKE IN UGANDAN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES
R. Nsibirano
School of Women and Gender Studies, ,College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Uganda
ABSTRACT
Men, more than women, are socially privileged to access, play with, and use technologies. Such
experiences position them to create meanings of any technology they meet and to benefit from its use
while women remain disadvantaged. Gender symbolism is a process of creating and attaching
meaning that is influenced by interaction experiences. Scholars argue that [male and female]
individuals act on the basis of the meaning(s) that things, in this case e-resource have to them
(Benzies & Allen, 2001; Blumer, 2001; Skaggs & Barron, 2006). Therefore, a cross sectional study
was conducted to investigate the meaning creation process among faculty and its influence on the
uptake of e-Resources to support university teaching. A sample of 200 faculty was systematically
selected from two public universities in Uganda. Findings show that male and female university staff
have different interaction experiences and therefore varied meanings creation. It is the individual
support that female faculty receive that empowers them to increase access to and use of electronic
resources in teaching. Challenges such as limited technical staff to support users, power outages,
limited time affects awareness about existing electronic resources, user experiences and so affects
uptake differently for men and women. Increased awareness raising about the availability of
electronic resources, end user training and technical support is recommend for a positive gender
symbolism construction that will empower staff but most especially female for effective use of e-
Resource in their teaching.
Keywords: Use of e-Resources and Womens’ Empowerment, Gender Symbolism, Makerere
University, Public Universities
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 81
S1 [78]
WOMEN IN PEACE POLITICS OF NEPAL: STRUGGLES AND SUCCESS
B.R. Upreti
Nepal Center for Contemporary Research (NCCR), Nepal
ABSTRACT
Nepal is undergoing a massive transformation in the past 2 decades, from civil war to negotiated
peace, unitary to federal monarchical to republican political system and very low level of women in
socio-political and social spheres to one of best countries in terms of women’s participation in the
parliament with highly women-friendly constitutional provisions. The objective of this paper is to
critically examine the state of women’s participation in political structures especially in the
parliament, and women’s struggle and achievement. The methods used in this study are focus group
discussion, key informant interview, in-depth interview, and round table discussion. The data
collected for the study is analysed with descriptive-interpretative way. This paper argues that even
when women have struggle in taking political positions in parliament, participation of women was
quite positive as they were well represented in different senior positions ranging from President of
Nepal, Chief Justice of Supreme Court, Speaker of the Parliament, judges, and many other positions.
One of the most important frameworks promoting women’s participation was the constitutional
provision of minimum 33 percent guarantee. This paper concludes that women’s participation in
socio-political sphere is positive and in right direction.
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 82
S2 [79]
SEXUAL VIOLENCE AND STATE RESPONSES: A CASE STUDY OF THE DELHI
GANG RAPE CASE OF DECEMBER 2012, LESSONS FOR THE POST-COLONIAL
CONTEXT
P. Bakshi
University of Delhi, India
ABSTRACT
This study argues that the response of the Indian State to December 2012 gang rape was significant.
The responses as articulated through modalities of State bodies, State Committees and Commissions
and State actors were heterogeneous in nature. This research adopts a post-colonial feminist
methodology to textually examine the two reports; the Justice Verma Committee (JVC) and the
Justice Usha Mehra Commission (JUMC) which informed the Indian parliament in the formulations
of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 2013.
The argument that this paper seeks to make is that these differences pertain to the difference in the
fact that the JVC engaged extensively with the feminist presence in the post-colonial State of India
and their research on the aspects of sexual violence and hence this analysis and recommendations
reflected this engagement. The JUHC on the other hand seemed to have been driven by the Statist
agenda of engaging with the police and other agencies, and absolving them of any significant critical
reassessment. Thus, some progressive inroads were made into engaging with sexual violence in a
gender sensitive manner whilst foreclosing other possibilities.
Keywords: sexual violence, legal and judicial state responses
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 83
S3 [80]
CHALLENGE AND RESPONSE: A CASE STUDY OF BENAZIR BHUTTO PRIME
MINISTERSHIPS
Q.A. Bashir1, M.R. Shahid2 and M.D. Mohabbat1
1Department of History and Pakistan Studies, University of Gujrat, Pakistan
2Department of Political Science and International Relations, University of Gujrat, Pakistan
ABSTRACT
Benazir Bhutto was the first democratically elected female leader of the Muslim World in Modern
History. When she came into power, she inherited the legacy of General Zia-ul-Haq’s dictatorship and
establishment that created number of challenges for her government and refrained her from exercise
of the legitimate powers. The nature of those challenges was mainly political; but reasons that created
those challenges included gender biasness as well. Being head of Government in a Patriarchal society
she was faced with immense difficulties especially from Religious elite. Her Political opponents
exploited her on the basis of gender biasness and questioned her ability as head of Government. In the
light of above discussion this article attempts to highlight the problems faced by Benazir Bhutto being
the first women prime minister in the male chauvinist society of Pakistan. This study is organized into
two parts.
Challenge and response faced by Benazir in the first tenure of her prime Ministership (1988-
90)
Challenge and response faced by Benazir in the second tenure of her prime Ministership
(1993-1996)
Keywords: Benazir Bhutto, challenge, response, democracy, government
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 84
S4 [81]
FEMALE PARTICIPATION AND THE NATIONAL DECISION MAKING ON
WOMEN ISSUES IN PAKISTAN: COMPARATIVE ANALYSES OF POST 2002
SCENARIO
R.Z. Malik
National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research, QAU Islamabad, Pakistan
ABSTRACT
Rights, problems and security of women are some of the most critical issues of the contemporary
world. Pakistan is not an exception. During the early years of independence, only a very few women
could get elected for the national legislature or Parliament of Pakistan. For the first time, through
Legal Framework Order (LFO) of 2002, the then president announced 33% reserved seats for
femalesin the parliament which brought more than 60 women in the National Assembly in the
elections of 2002. After this amendment, there had been three general elections in 2002, 2008 and
2013 in Pakistan. Two of these governments have completed their tenure and third one is going to
complete its tenure in 2018. All the three governments belonged to the political parties with different
political orientations i.e. Centre, Left and Right respectively. Such a huge number of women in the
parliament raised the expectations of the common people, particularly the women section of society
with reference to the protection of women’s rights in Pakistan through legislation. The present paper
will be an effort to analyzethe impacts of such an escalating number of female members in the
parliament on the legislation with reference to women. It will also be a study of the responses of male
and female parliamentarians sitting on government and opposition benches with reference to
legislation about women in Pakistan. For this purpose, particularly, the National Assembly debates
will be consulted along with other sources and some interviews of the parliamentarians.
Keywords: women, Pakistan, parliament, participation, legislation
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 85
S5 [82]
'STORIES FOR PURPOSE' USING DOCUMENTARY FILM AND
PARTICIPATORY FORUMS IN PROGRAM MONITORING, EVALUATION AND
REPORTING
S.L. Rooney-Harding
The Story Catchers, South Australia
ABSTRACT
Bringing the more feminine process of Storytelling to monitoring, evaluation and reporting.Using
documentary story and stakeholder participation in monitoring, evaluation and reporting. It’s the story
behind the numbers that bring a traditionally dry and boring process to life. Using Documentary
Videographers, Photographers, Participatory Media specialists and Monitoring, Evaluation Specialists
stories are produced that can be used for Monitoring and Evaluation, Reporting, Communications and
PR purposes. Participatory media can also be used as a part of the monitoring, evaluation and
reporting process. This media is where the audience can play an active role in the process of
collecting, reporting, analysing and sharing media content. Communities can be upskilled to produce
participatory media. We work with monitoring and evaluation specialists and use a variety of
evidence-based methodologies to produce visual project case studies and visual monitoring and
evaluation reports. Monitoring and evaluation specialists produce a traditional written report. This
report and media previously collected is then used to create a short visual documentary (approx. 8-
10min) report to accompany the written report. Most of the work that we do is with government
agencies looking to bring their evaluations to life. The documentary reports have been used for policy
and legislation change.
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 89
P1 [83]
HOPPING HURDLES: RESEARCH IN WOMEN’S AND GENDER & SEXUALITY
STUDIES
S.A. Howard
Princeton University, United States
ABSTRACT
The challenges in pursuing Women’s and Gender & Sexuality Studies scholarship can also serve as
the facets that are most exciting. The interdisciplinary nature requires researchers to not only be aware
of trends in other fields but also understand separate research methodologies. This manifests in
several different ways; from having to physically comb through libraries for different sources to
routinely needed to stay well-informed of several controlled vocabularies. Investigation into these
topics can also be triggering to some researchers in terms of past personal experiences, positionalities
or the desire to participate in specific activism which may not be accomplishable at the moment. The
need for self-care during the research process, not just when one is a student, but continuing
throughout ones time as a scholar has not been widely investigated. This poster hopes to remind
participants of the exciting challenges one encounters doing interdisciplinary research and highlight
the need for self-care during this process.
Keywords: research, self-care, libraries, women’s studies, gender studies
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 90
P2 [84]
WOMEN IN JAPANESE CONTEMPORARY ART
K. Masue
Graduate School of Christian Studies, Rikkyo University, Japan
ABSTRACT
The women figures expressed in Japanese contemporary art have been interpreted in a wide variety of
ways. They were discussed in terms of its psychological and sociological meaning. They have been
seen as expressions of the artist’s own memories and mental images or as mirrors of contemporary
adult society, revealing things that reside deep within the hearts and minds of women and the desires
of men. In this presentation, they will be analyzed as representing the concept of Superflat, a wider
trend in Japanese contemporary art that adopted the two-dimensionality and decorativeness of
premodern Japanese painting while appropriating the popular culture of the West and the manga and
anime subculture unique to Japan. They raise the issue of to whom the works of art belong. In the
same way, they allow for the creation of a harmonious place of communication, bringing together
people with different political or religious ideas. It may have great potential for opening up paths to
new forms of creativity.
Keywords: art history, art critic, contemporary art, Japan, women, social community
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 93
[85]
KHADIJA: THE CARAVAN OWNER
M. Meilleur
Harvard Divinity School, United States
ABSTRACT
Historical accounts continually refer to Khadija, the first wife of the Prophet Mohammad, as a “rich,
merchant woman.” But what exactly does this mean? Through archival research, this presentation
outlines the operations of camel caravans during the 6th century AD/CE. It details what a several
month journey from Mecca to Damascus in a 100+ camel caravan must have been like. It analyzes the
potential cargo of aromatics and spices and lists their prices in the ancient world. It explains in detail
how Khadija made her wealth and the risks involved. It demonstrates that her life was contrary to the
role expectations for Muslim women by today’s Islamic fundamentalists. Finally, it shows how the
smallest investor in Mecca had a stake in this lucrative yearly endeavor and how it fuelled the city’s
cyclical trade operations. Research is drawn from the Sira and expert scholarship in the ancient
Arabian trade routes and related subjects. What is uncovered is a clear, comprehensive picture of this
aspect of Khadija and Mohammad’s lives.
Keywords: Early Islam, Pre-Islamic Arabia, Mecca, Camel Caravans, Mohammad
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 94
[86]
SEXUAL DIVERSITY AND GENDER IDENTITY IN SRI LANKAN PERSPECTIVE
WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO RIGHTS AND POSITION OF SEXUAL
MINORITIES IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM OF SRI LANKA
A.H. Wijayath
Attorney-at-Law, Sri Lanka
ABSTRACT
All human beings are acquired a set of rights since their birth and these rights are called as “Human
Rights”. These set of rights cannot be derogated due to the sexual orientation. The Constitution of Sri
Lanka states that all citizens are equal before the law and every citizen have same opportunity without
considering their sexual orientation. The Penal Code of Sri Lanka prescribes that the sex between men
and sex between women as an offence. This research mainly focused on sexual minorities and their
position in Sri Lankan Criminal Justice arena. Through this study the rights of sexual minorities and
penal laws relating to sexual behaviours will be discussed in a critical manner. Generally this work is
internet based research therefore scholarly work on the issue will be reviewed. This work identified
that there is a lacuna regarding the rights of sexual minorities and their position is nether most among
Sri Lankan society. Further it emphasizes that the anti homo sexual penal laws oppress sexual
minorities ceaselessly. The purpose of this research is gather qualitative information in relation to
rights of sexual minorities and it further analyzes the penal laws regarding homo sexual behaviours in
Sri Lankan Criminal Justice System .This qualitative information will help in the formulation of
recommendation to build up a better surrounding for sexual minorities and ameliorate their position in
Sri Lankan society.
Keywords: sexual minorities, human rights, criminal justice system, penal code, Sri Lankan society
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 95
[87]
“THINGS THAT CANNOT BE SAID”: A VISUAL WORK TO REFLECT ABOUT
URBAN FREEDOM AND WOMEN
C. Roselli
Faculty of Architecture, University of Florence, Italy
ABSTRACT
On May 2014, in Delhi, I participate at the workshop organized by the Indian artist Vani
Subramanian: “Opa/City: Gender, Space, Intersections”, for whom I was selected like fellow. I was
deep impressed from the wave of the violent events against women, that happened in India from
December 2012 and I started a new reflection about woman and its condition on the contemporary
society in India. For my studies, as urban researcher, I started from considerations on the
contemporary urban spaces and on the role of the woman alone in society. Then I focused on the
woman reality on the Indian metropolises. I developed thoughts about gender diversity and also to the
capacity of dreams (connected with the hope of realization) related to it, specifically joined to the
complex and fascinating contemporary Indian culture; considering that Indian cities and their
inhabitants are presenting unique specificities joined also to the permanence of their ancient culture.
The video presents a night walk, that I made in Delhi. It is a visual story, on the images, there are
subtitles. I composed a poem to express my feelings related to the night walk in Delhi. The art work
was made in India, and it contains a reflection that is taking inspiration from the binomial: sacred
bodies and sexualized bodies.“Here the bodies are so sacred and so abused. The sacred and the
abused are living and breathing in this city. Illness and beauty are screaming everyday on these
roads.” (Claudia Roselli, 2014) The reflection was amplified, from my point of view, as non-Indian
woman, and it was precisely contextualized inside the contemporary Indian cultural transformations,
that are passing also through the way of dressing and of presenting oneself socially.
“ In this visual document of Delhi city by night, Claudia Roselli invites us to think of the intimacy and
strangeness of India - its ability to arouse both pity and fear in the foreign visitor who craves
experience of even that which cannot be understood. The beauty of the female figure clad in a silken
sari, hair flowing, walking the streets of Delhi alone is a challenge set against the ugly reality of the
violence to be encountered there. In Delhi, the streets are not for women after sunset. Being alone and
being a woman are crimes equal in nature after dark.” (Review by Prof Dr (Ms) Amrit Srinivasan,
PhD Cambridge, Sociologist / Social Anthropologist, 2015)
Keywords: telling women’s stories, women and urban freedom, visual art and poetry, India, urban
bodies
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 96
[88]
THE WORKING WOMEN TABOO: A QUALITATIVE STUDY BY SYRIAN
REFUGEE WOMEN
Z. Karadsheh
Kingston University
ABSTRACT
Refugee women encounter many trials prior to arriving in Jordan and face ongoing challenges
associated with re-settlement. Despite the hardship and continued victimisation refugees face, they
continuously demonstrate enormous strength and resilience that help facilitate their resettlement
process and attain financial stability with disregard to their cultural restrictions. However, this
research suggests that practitioners working with refugees tend to focus on the trauma story and
neglect the stories of their strengths. This means resilience is overshadowed by dominant Western
deficits approaches that defines women as traumatised victims. Pathologising refugees may further
alienate them from inclusion into the Jordanian life by denying their inherent resilience in the face of
extraordinary life experiences. This article articulates the results of eight interviews with Syrian
refugee women expressing the factors that promotes resilience such as social support, personal
qualities, religion and comparison to others. The interviews also identify elements that may impede
resilience including: racism, patriarchal institution of thought, language. The aim of this research is to
address the refugee situation from a strengths perspective and consider applications for anti-
oppressive approaches. This research is directed to empower refugee women and women from the
Middle East, whom are bounded by the patriarchal institution of thought to enhance their conditions
economically, socially and emotionally.
Keywords: Syrian refugees, women, resilience, obstructs, strength, patriarchal, Middle East
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 97
[89]
THE EFFECTS OF HUSBAND’S ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AND WOMEN’S
EMPOWERMENT ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN INDIA: INSIGHTS FROM
NFHS-4
A. Parekh
Monk Prayogshala, India
ABSTRACT
In past literature, husband’s alcohol consumption has consistently emerged as a risk factor for
domestic violence. Indeed, the recently released National Family Health Survey-4 (NFHS) of India
similarly found that two-thirds of women whose husbands often get drunk have experienced spousal
physical or sexual violence, compared with 21 percent of the women whose husbands do not drink
alcohol. Alcohol consumption diminishes the husband’s capacity to work and contribute substantially
to the household, causing the wife to seek employment. This may lead to gender imbalances within
the marriage. According to the concept of gender deviance neutralization, women’s superior resources
are perceived as gender deviant and result in compensatory masculine displays of violence. Using data
from the Domestic Violence and Women’s Empowerment modules of the NFHS-4, this paper
assesses the extent to which violence perpetrated by husbands who consume alcohol is mediated by
variables of women’s empowerment. Using multivariate logistic regressions, the study tests the
hypothesis that women who are more empowered, as assessed by variables such as larger magnitude
of women’s earnings, household decision making power, among others, would have higher exposure
to domestic violence. Given the nationally representative nature of the data set, the results of this
study highlight the nuanced challenges to violence prevention. Results of this study are informative to
policymakers and social workers working to address gender inequality and violence against women.
Keywords: domestic violence, India, alcohol consumption, women’s empowerment
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 98
[90]
BRACKETING EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY AND GENDER PERSPECTIVE
IN THE UNIVERSITY CONTEXT
V.S. Nirban1 , T. Shukla1 and D. Dosaya1
1BITS Pilani, India
ABSTRACT
Information Technology interventions have transformed lifestyles, societies and economies globally
in various fields. Not only the developed but the developing countries have also opened up towards
accepting technology as an integral step to move ahead. The field of education is not untouched from
this transformation rather it remains the most affected due to the catalyzing effect that education
creates in contributing towards development. Despite having lot of benefits, technology acceptance
still remains a challenge in the current education scenario. Moreover, there exists a gender inequality
in access and use of technology in education. It is seen that fewer women than men are able to make
use of technological interventions in the developing countries. This study attempts to address this
gender gap and look at the factors that contribute in such discrepancy by studying the users’ attitudes
towards Learning Management Systems (LMS) in an engineering institute in India. The data was
collected from students and teachers of the institute on the basis of the factors indicated by the Unified
Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) Model. Apart from this, qualitative analysis
was also conducted by the means of structured interviews. The results indicated that acceptance of
LMS in women users was considerably affected by the degree to which they considered it easy to use
and also by social influence from colleagues and senior management. Thus it becomes clear that
Effort Expectancy and Social Influence play an important role in acceptance or rejection of available
technology aides in education among women.
Keywords: learning management system, UTAUT model, learning management system, gender
inequality, effort expectancy, social influence
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 99
[91]
WOMEN’S SPORTS IN INDIA : A FEMINIST REVIEW
M. Mondal
Department of Physical Education , Gushkara Mahavidyalaya, Gushkara, Purba
Bardhaman, West Bengal, India
ABSTRACT
Women’s sports include amateur and professional competitions in virtually all sports. Female
participation in sports rose dramatically in the twentieth century, especially in the last quarter,
reflecting changes in modern-societies that emphasized gender equality. Although the level of
participation still varies greatly by country and by sports, women’s sports have gained broad
acceptance throughout the world. Sports is all forms of usually competitive physical activity which
through casual or organized participation, aim to use maintain or improve physical ability and skills
while providing entertainment to participants and in some cases spectators. Woman is the mother of
the race and is the liaison between generations. Indian culture attaches much importance to this
section of society. The feminist method is a means of conducting scientific investigations and
generating theory from an explicitly feminist standpoint. Feminist methodologies are varied, but send
to have a few common aims or characteristics, including seeking to overcome biases in research,
bringing about social change, displaying human diversity and acknowledging the position of the
researcher. Sports for women were viewed as medium for social interaction rather than competitive or
physically beneficial activities. The shift was enabled by events and phenomena such as increased
education for women and changes in our society’s attitude toward women’s sports overtime. As
society had adapted to changing times, femininity, modesty and tolerance have been redefined. As
these terms have gained new meaning, female sports have gained a new role within our society.
Society has overcome the barriers that those terms represented in this old context. Women will keep
fighting for completely equal status with men on and off the playing field as long as society continues
to support them. In essence, it has become more socially acceptable for women to take on physically
rigorous activities as they have displayed their ability to take on mentally strenuous occupations.
Keywords: women’s sports, feminist, physical ability, femininity
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 100
[92]
GENDER AND SECURITY – WOMEN MILITARY SERVICE IN SOCIAL
PERSPECTIVE – HISTORY, PRESENT, LAW, COMMUNICATION
B. Drapikowska
War Studies University in Warsaw, Poland
ABSTRACT
The presentation concerns the role of the women in national security by the example of women
military service. I would like to present results of my own research in this area. Armies are institutions
created by men for centuries. In the context of war women are almost always noticed only in specific
situations mainly as fulfillment of the lack of male resources, e.g. during the Second World War. The
situation has started to change due to feministic movement in United States. Nowadays women are the
minority in armies. They are dominated by masculine style of work and communication. It is related
to gender, culture, stereotypies and society`s mentality. The role of women in each army is the
projection of woman`s role in society in particular country. For many male soldiers this is quite
inconvenient because of sexual and gender diversity. What is more they consider women as a
problematic issue because this needs a lot of severe changes both in army and social mentality.
However, the research shows that there are places on the world where the female resources are the
necessity. It is because feminine nature gives them great possibility to make good contact with local
civilians and to provide them the best help.
Keywords: women in army, women military service, gender and security
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 101
[93]
GENDER IDENTITY AND LEADER SELF-AWARENESS: A RESEARCH ON
CHINESE UNIVERSITY FEMALE STUDENT LEADERS
Y. Wang
Beijing Foreign Studies University, People’s Republic of China
ABSTRACT
Though women have been leaders in all walks of life, studies show that female have the tendency to
underestimate their behaviors as leaders, which largely prevents them from further development—
entering senior level management in leadership. The low leader self-awareness of women leads to the
situation. Gender identity of women may be the cause to their low leader self-awareness. University
years are an essential period for leader self-awareness development, but gender perspective was
seldom taken in studies. So, this research focused on the relation between gender identity and leader
self-awareness of university female student leaders to add to literature. In order to better describe
female student leaders’ gender identity, the androgynous theory was adopted. The research has two
phases. Both questionnaire and interview were used in this research. In phase I, 50 female student
leaders from Beijing Foreign Studies University filled in the Bem Sex-Role Inventory and Multifactor
Leadership Questionnaire Form 6s. Based on the participants’ gender identity categories, 4 of them
were chosen to receive the interview in phase II. Gender role performance theory was applied in the
analysis. The present research found that although female student leaders’ identification with feminine
is higher than that with masculine, the non-sex typed gender identity categories are the main
categories for them. Both the identification degrees with feminine and masculine are in positive
correlations with leader self-awareness. The ideal leader for female student leaders is an androgynous
role, which is different from the stereotype that leader role is a masculine role, and that is the main
cause to the positive correlation. School and family education may have influence on female student
leaders’ leader self-awareness construction. Based on the results, families and schools are suggested
to avoid emphasizing gender traits in portraying leader image, and encourage female students to be
leaders to help them realize their potentials.
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 102
[94]
EXPLORING THE GENDER DIGITAL DIVIDE: CONNECTING ICT
AND WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP
T. Shukla1 and V.S. Nirban1
1BITS Pilani, India
ABSTRACT
Transnationally, the association between gender and ICT is through the Sustainable Development
Goal 4 (Education) and SDG 5 (Gender equality) which are combined efforts aimed at terminating the
gender digital divide. With the commencement of information communication technology spread and
deterioration in affordability of access devices, the entrepreneurial domain has experienced an
exponential growth. It is commonly acknowledged that ICT offers enormous prospects for the
inclusive social- economic development of Developing Countries. Nevertheless, ICT is still not used
by women entrepreneurs in India, on the other hand, various initiatives are sanctioned by the
government directed towards women’s economic empowerment through ICT. A marked observation
is the acknowledged gender digital divided which is increasing in many developed countries. The aim
of this paper is to show the place of women in evolving spans of information technology and to
examine the means in which IT has expanded women in terms of entrepreneurship. With the help of
narrative enquiry and interview analysis of first generation entrepreneurs, the study examines how
women’s intervention has been influenced by ICT‐aided networking paths for women’s
empowerment. With the governments’ persistent emphasis on women empowerment and
the digital economy, the concern becomes more stimulating to probe. In the light of aforesaid issues,
the present study explores the gender digital divide connecting ICT and women entrepreneurship by
categorizing the accountable factors.
Keywords: ICT, gender, entrepreneurs, women
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 103
[95]
UNDERSTANDING MASCULINITY IN PASTORAL COMMUNITIES IN
NORTHERN KENYA
J.J. Kottutt
Rollins School of Public Health (RSPH), Emory University, Gerogia
ABSTRACT
Background and Purpose:
Pastoralists are communities that depend on livestock for their livelihood. Masculinity and femininity
in African contexts are not mutually exclusive and are typically defined by the role and contribution
of each sex in sustaining their livelihood. This abstract contextualizes masculinity in pastoral
communities and suggests a way of conceptualizing Women’s Studies in African settings.
Methodology:
A cross-sectional exploratory qualitative research was conducted from June through August of 2016
in Marsabit and Isiolo counties. Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with 4 groups of 12 participants
(young women and men 15-40 years a child <2 years; older women and men >45 years) were
recruited at the ward level using purposive sampling techniques. 66 detailed notes were read, ‘memo-
ed’, and coded using MAXQDA_12 and themes were developed.
Results:
Masculinity was characterized by division of labor, and valuation of the contributions made to the
household. Men were the main caretakers (herding, milking, and buying/selling) of all the animals. It
was unlikely for men to perform women’s duties except if they were ‘Moraans’, who mostly lived
outside of community and were typically young unmarried men. Women’s roles and duties were
typically undervalued and disregarded compared to men’s because they didn’t involve access and
control of the livestock.
Conclusion:
Gender equality cannot be attained without ensuring gender equity, illustrated through role in and
contributions to the household, especially in intertwined communities. In order to fully understand the
influences of the surrounding on the individual, it is paramount for Women’s Studies to use the
socioecological approach, especially in African settings.
Keywords: masculinity, pastoralism, livelihood
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 104
[96]
RE-NARRATING THE SELF
S. Bhat
University of Western Ontario, Canada
ABSTRACT
This paper is an inquiry into the urge to re-narrate the self in feminist autobiographies, through a
reading of Gayathri Prabhu’s memoir, If I had to tell it Again, which was released in December 2017
in India. Prabhu’s memoir is an intrepid unfolding of the fragmented memories of unsafe footing in
the world of girlhood and adulthood, clinical depression, and passionate love and pain within the
spaces of family. As the title suggests, this memoir is a project of retelling, correcting, negotiating,
and reconstructing which take place through weaving the gaps and silences. This paper reads the
memoir as a reflection on women’s autobiographical writing through the following questions- what is
the nature of the narrative when retelling is the only way of telling? How does one re-narrate a self
when the self is not a free floating agent, but has been given a script in the social and historical
milieu? How do public scrutiny and stigma affect the process and style of life writing about mental
health and child sexual abuse? What is the role of increasing right-wing politics in India in shaping
the style of personal narratives of women? Exploring these questions, I will argue that writing about
self in feminist autobiographies is a project of rewriting the existing discourse about self. This paper
reads the memoir as an interrogation of the limits of the project imagined by the terms
‘memoir/autobiography’ in the theories of self and narrative.
Keywords: memoir, narrative and the self, mental health, abuse
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 105
[97]
IS THERE AN OUTSIDE TO THE CLOSET?
S. Bhat
University of Western Ontario, Canada
ABSTRACT
Delineating Sedgwick’s arguments about silence, and the separation between the axes of sexuality and
gender in her work Epistemology of the closet, this paper attempts to understand closet as a nature of
knowledge about sexuality, rather than the stage of development through which one “passes.” This
paper traces Sedgwick’s debt to Foucault by reading sexuality in the light of Foucault’s arguments
about silence and extending these concerns for the productive effects of discourse to the realm of
“ignorance.” Drawing from Foucault and Sedgwick, this paper attempts to see ignorance as a locus
upon which discursive category of closet is called into question, by opening the possibilities of
resistance and change. As ignorance is an inevitable part of this knowledge system, one is always in
the stages of discovering and rediscovering one’s sexuality, and hence permanently caught within the
closet. Mapping sexuality onto a different axis than gender, Sedgwick frees sexuality to its indefinite,
moreover, infinite possibilities. Sexuality spans across multiple sites, runs through multiple nodes,
and opens up different permutations and combinations. This paper attempt to understand this
theoretical move as rendering the person an insurmountable amount of agency, allowing that person to
choose from a vast range of possibilities which cannot possibly be exhausted. There would always
remain unseen territories, and untrodden paths of pleasure and desire. This paper, by queering
everyone, attempts to argue that there is no outside to closet. It also explores the questions regarding
the relevance of this theoretical move to the queer politics in the realm of activism.
Keywords: sexuality, gender, closet
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 106
[98]
TRAVERSING THE CRACKS IN THE EMPOWERMENT NARRATIVE
U. Sinha
Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India
ABSTRACT
This paper aims to deconstruct the contemporary narrative of women empowerment by unearthing the
intrinsic paradox between the mechanisms of capitalism and the crux of women empowerment.
Inherent to our argument is the assumption that capitalism derives its momentum from a culture of
instant gratification, and an increasing dismissal of global environmental consequences. According to
Srilatha Batliwala, the concept of empowerment essentially was intended to shake the foundations of
patriarchal power structures, but today it has become depoliticized and subverted –a “magic bullet”.
In light of this argument, there is an attempt to problematize and deconstruct how our notions of
empowerment are influenced by this culture of instant gratification. This study seeks to highlight the
way in which the definitions of empowerment that we operate with today have become overarching
and vague, while there is a need for nuanced, ethnocentric definitions to cater to the lived experiences
of women from different backgrounds. This paper will demonstrate the need for a long-term
transformatory approach in place of a capitalistic instrumental approach, and will utilize theoretical as
well as empirical research to support it’s results.
Keywords: empowerment, capitalism, instant gratification, ethnocentrism, women empowerment,
patriarchy
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 107
[99]
WOMEN AND INSTITUTIONAL REPRESENTATION :TREND OR PARADIGM
SHIFTS
M. Kaushik
New Delhi Institute of management (NDIM), New Delh, India
ABSTRACT
In today’s global economy, Indian industries require talented pool of candidates in order to create a
competitive edge to address the global challenges that corporations face in present scenario. To
address these global trends one lies in the capacity of leadership to manage changes effectively and to
capture global opportunities and having more women on top management positions can help
organizations a real competitive edge by spreading various leadership practices within organizations.
A key source of talent is educated Indian women, global economic reforms along with the gradual
opening up of a conservative society to a modern society. This conceptual research paper analyzes
how women have experienced the disadvantages of existing in a patriarchal framework designating
them in a homemaker role and how women in business now, have broken that mould across the world.
This paper also analyses a paradigm shifts from traditional views, stereotypes and societal attitudes to
giving more and more opportunities to women to move up the higher ladder. The objective of writing
this paper is to focus on an urgent need to develop leadership effectiveness among women executives
to break through the glass-ceiling and increase women’s participation in Indian organizations. The
researcher has also suggested and recommended certain ways to develop leadership skills in women
executives to take full advantage of the various educational avenues and participate in various
leadership development programmes that have been made available to them as there has arisen a
greater impetus for women to enter leadership roles.
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 108
[100]
THE ROLE OF RESEARCHER’S POSITIONALITY IN THE CREATION OF
KNOWLEDGE
F. Tayyab
School of Sociology & Social Policy, University of Leeds, Pakistan
ABSTRACT
Positionality of the researcher and power relations in the field are a crucial part of qualitative
research to gain rich data. Positionality is influenced by many factors including the informed
consent, being insider vs. outsider and continuous negotiations of power positions between
the researcher and the participants. This paper is an effort to highlight the concerns regarding
the position of the researcher and its implications for the quality of data while in pressure due
to the standard ethical rules provided by the universities. The study is based on the
perceptions of women regarding domestic violence in Pakistan. Twenty-four qualitative in-
depth interviews were conducted in the urban and the rural context with married women
belonging to the Christian and the Muslim faith. These women were approached through the
help of organisations working with women of both these faiths. Participants were from
middle and lower socio-economic groups. The field experiences of the researcher reveals that
it is difficult to implement the standard rules of research in Pakistan as the sample of the
study were uneducated women and a general understanding about the research was limited.
Participants do not foresee any potential benefits of narrating experiences of domestic
violence when recalling would be painful and distressing. Sharing of the same language,
culture, and gender do not always contribute in the role of the researcher as being insider as
the participants also build the identity of the researcher.
Keywords: positionality, ethics, research identity, power positions,
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 109
[101]
“REPRESENTATIONS OF WOMEN’S ROLE IN PAKISTAN: A CRITICAL
ANALYSIS THROUGH DRAMA SERIALS”
A. Fatima
Forman Christian College University, Lahore, Pakistan
ABSTRACT
The concept of honour and the resulting discourses have always affected women’s lives in Pakistan.
This paper will utilize Butler’s theory of performativity and insights from feminist film theory and
women’s history in Pakistan to critique and evaluate women’s representation in Pakistani popular
cultural texts, and thus engage with the politics of gender in Pakistan. The methodological tools of
content analysis and discourse analyses will be used to investigate the central research question that
is: to what extent does the representation of women’s roles in contemporary Pakistani drama serials
include traditionalist discourses of honour?’ It will thus examine that ‘how’ women are represented in
Pakistani soap operas or drama serials and what it means to be a ‘honourable’ woman. This will
reveal that despite modernization and increased female education and labor participation, honour
discourses still continue to be the most dominant feature of a woman’s life on screen and in pop
culture. Research shows that some of the most prominent concepts that are influenced by honour
discourses include marriage, domestic violence, economic roles, labor participation, silencing of
victims of sexual harassment or rape and even one’s religious standing. The study shows how
important it is to investigate these cultural texts with gendered lenses and gain a deeper understanding
of the challenges women in this part of the world face.
Keywords: Pakistani dramas, women’s roles, honor, domestic violence, religion, marriage
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 110
[102]
SOCIO-CULTURAL INERTIA AND WOMEN’S VULNERABILITY: A CASE
STUDY ON SANITATION PRACTICES
R. Ramesh1 and R.R. Bhavani2
1Center for Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham,
Kollam, India
2Ammachi Labs, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Kollam, India
ABSTRACT
Intense initiatives making India, open defecation free has been the key highlight of the Governmental
and Non-Governmental Organizations for the past several years. Recent studies envisioned that
providing infrastructural support alone is not enough to provide a solution, in parallel, it is important
to entail operation and maintenance of these facilities along with inculcating behaviour change
initiatives in the people using them. The purpose of the current case study was to explore the
influence of cultural beliefs women have in practicing safe sanitation. The study was carried out in
three rural villages in India (Orissa, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh) with varied socio-cultural and
economic background. The study exercised semi structured interview and group discussions with the
women under three age groups to identify their perception on hygiene and sanitation; on what
activities they perceive as important, to an effective healthy lifestyle. Inferences from the study
revealed that the relationship between religious/cultural beliefs on sanitation practices were high
among the elderly while some of the beliefs are being carried forward to the younger generation. Even
though young age girls are more aware of the harmful effects of open defecation, practicing safe
sanitation behaviour is difficult due to social pressure. Any choices and behaviours related to water
and sanitation are found to be deeply rooted in cultural contexts. Therefore we concluded that, to
effectively implement any sustainable solution or interventions in these villages, it is important to
incorporate solution which caters to the need either based on cultural beliefs, gender or generational
differences.
Keywords: sanitation, open defecation, cultural perception, women empowerment, access to water
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 111
[103]
AN INCLUSIVE GRASSROOTS APPROACH FOR THE POST-FEMINIST ERA: A
CASE STUDY OF SRI LANKA
S. De Visser
ABSTRACT
A large portion of Feminist thought has been shaped by the West and by the privileged. Although the
feminist movement has spread far and wide, decades later, feminist theory continues to be
predominantly dictated by the ideals of Western middle-class women leaving very little room or
opportunity for the masses of women globally to contribute to and benefit from. Three decades ago
feminist and social activist Bell Hooks noted “Feminism in the United States has never emerged from
the women who are most victimized by sexist oppression; women who are daily beaten down,
mentally, physically, and spiritually- women who are powerless to change their condition in life. They
are a silent majority” 4 The ‘silent majority’ are the women that are most in need of the advancement
that the feminist movement has brought forth. However they often find it beyond their reach. While
acknowledging the great strides that have been made by women globally to fight against patriarchy
and strive towards achieving equal opportunities, it must be noted that in many places the oppressed
and marginalized still have limited opportunity to engage in feminist discourse and work on a national
and local level. This paper will study the feminist movement in Sri Lanka exploring its origins, reach,
exclusivity and accessibility and offer an inclusive grassroots approach, with special focus on
storytelling and diversification of feminist voices, to the future of feminism and Women’s Studies.
Furthermore Sri Lanka as a multi-religious, multi-ethnic, post-colonial, post-conflict nation with an
emerging economy offers unique insight to other nations with similar contexts.
Keywords: feminism, grassroots, post-feminist era, inclusive, global, storytelling
4 Hooks, Bell. Feminist Theory: from Margin to Center. Routledge, 2015.
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 112
[104]
WHO PERPETRATES VIOLENCE ON OWN SPOUSES? EVIDENCE FROM INDIA
B. Thomas1, H.P. Trivedi1, R. Subhash1 and S.N. Pathak1
1 Sardar Patel University, Gujarat, India
ABSTRACT
Perpetration of violence by men on their spouses is taking place around the world while a general
understanding of the underlying precipitating factors for this violence remains limited and significant
knowledge about its root causes is lacking. It is very important to understand the version of spouse
violence from the perpetrator’s perspectives too in order to have a complete comprehension of this
violence and their violent behavior. A 24 item Men’s Childhood Experience of Gender Inequity Scale
[MCE-GE] and an 18 item Men’s Childhood Experience of Violence Scale [MCE-V] are developed
as part of this study as there were no cultural context tools available to assess these variables. In order
to find out whether their childhood gender inequity attitude and violence experiences bear any impact
on the prevalence of spouse violence of men, a study in multiple sites representing a range of gender
equality and development indices within Gujarat, India is conducted and the findings indicate that
there are very strong statistically significant links between childhood violence experiences and the
perpetration of violence against women in adulthood, and this cycle of violence is facilitated and
fuelled by the perpetrators’ childhood gender inequity experiences.
Keywords: childhood violence experiences, childhood gender inequity experiences, spouse violence,
perpetration of violence
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 113
[105]
REVISITING THE TERMS OF THE PATRIARCHAL BARGAIN: EXPLORING
THE GENDER POLITICS OF HOUSEHOLD MONEY MANAGEMENT IN RURAL
NEPAL
L. Gram1, J. Skordis-Worrall 1, J. Mannell1, G. Shannon1, D. Manandhar 2, N. Saville 1
and J. Morrison 1
1Institute for Global Health, University College London, United Kingdom
2Mother Infant Research Activities, Nepal
ABSTRACT
Although power struggles between daughters-in-law and mothers-in-law in the South Asian
household remain an enduring theme of feminist scholarship, current policy discourse on ‘women’s
economic empowerment’ in the Global South has tended to focus on women’s power in their spousal
relationship to the neglect of intergenerational power dynamics. We conducted a qualitative study of
42 households from the Plains of Nepal involving semi-structured interviews with 15 mothers-in-law,
3 senior daughters-in-law, 22 junior daughters-in-law, and 20 husbands. The aim of the study was to
explore the gender politics of money management in the contemporary rural Nepali household. Our
study uncovered numerous ways in which junior wives and husbands in the extended family became
secret allies in a quest for financial autonomy from the rule of the mother-in-law. Most prominently,
husbands sometimes secretly transferred part of their income to their wife to save up for a household
separation from the in-laws. Anticipating such a move by the junior couple, extended household
members sought to keep the daughter-in-law and husband financially apart by restricting their access
to cash, which only further strengthened the junior couple’s incentive to separate. We argue these
household processes reflect a re-negotiation of Kandiyoti’s ‘patriarchal bargain’ wherein junior
married women trade their own autonomy for economic security and the opportunity to attain the
privileges of becoming a mother-in-law later in life. Researchers, activists and policy-makers
concerned with women’s economic empowerment need to consider the impact of intergenerational
power relations on women’s control over cash.
Keywords: empowerment, agency, money management, mother-in-law, daughter-in-law
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 114
[106]
GENDER CONSIDERATION IN ADMITTANCE OF REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
FACILITIES IN PAKISTAN
S. Akram1, R.N. Alam1 and N. Li2
1Quaid-e-Azam University Islamabad, Pakistan
2Sun-Yat -Sen University China, China
ABSTRACT
Articles deals with those culturally embedded patterns and behaviors that restrict women’s access to
reproductive health facilities. Gender consideration in obtaining basic health right is impacting
phenomena in developing countries, where Pakistan is not an exception. Data is based on ethnography
of suburban area Faisalabad, Data collection tools were face to face interviews and case studies.
Major influence of gender imbedded norms was identified in access the knowledge and practices of
reproductive health, utilization of contraception methods and choice of delivery center for women. It
was concluded that change of behaviors can only be brought through change in socialization during
brought up of kids.
Keywords: right of knowledge, utilization of contraceptive methods (natural, scientific methods),
spousal communication and fertility decision making, unwanted pregnancies, choice of delivery
center
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 115
[107]
EMPOWERING SOUTH ASIAN WOMEN THROUGH ACCESSIBLE
EDUCATION–ACHIEVEMENTS OF BANGLADESH
H. Barua
Jawaharlal Nehru University, School of International Studies in JNU, New Delhi, India
ABSTRACT
Societies around the world are experiencing a wind of change by progressively realizing the
importance of empowering women. Women empowerment is the manifestation of gender equality
which is the forerunner to move a country ahead. Women will, in true sense achieve freedom when
they begin to receive equal opportunity and be empowered in a more tangible manner. It has become
one of the most important matters of interest among the policy makers of developing nations.
Education is considered to be the key to upgrade an individuals’ well-being and ameliorate nations’
economy and improve its social development. Even the Millennium Development Goal 3 recognizes
and thus promotes access to female education as it is associated with multifarious developmental
aspects such as education, eliminating poverty, occupation, economy, decision making, political
representation etc. Although the socio-political and economic status of South Asian women is quite
uneven, Bangladesh has a different story to tell. Despite being a patriarchal society, Bangladesh has
made significant achievements over the past two decades to an extent of outstripping some of its
neighbours including India. Their rising participation in all sectors has brought about impressive
outcomes to the national development. This paper has been divided in to three sections. Based on the
available literature, reports the paper firstly attempts to discuss Bangladesh’s achievements in
empowering its women in various fields especially through access to education. Secondly, the paper
aims to explore the barriers in terms of women empowerment that Bangladesh is yet to overcome.
Lastly, it concludes with an overview analysis of Bangladesh’s status in terms of strengthening its
female population.
Keywords: women empowerment, sustainable development, education, Bangladesh, South Asia
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 116
[108]
FILLING UP THE GAPS BETWEEN FORMAL AND INFORMAL WOMEN: LAW
REFORMS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE STATUS OF SRI LANKAN
DOMESTIC WORKING WOMEN
J.A.I. Kumarasinghe
General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Sri Lanka
ABSTRACT
Currently Sri Lanka is more focused on its economic development. Informal economy plays a major
role in the development of the country. There are no well-established legal frameworks for the
protection of formal workers, they have been neglected from the beneficiaries. Women engaging in
domestic work can be considered as a vulnerable group of informal workers who has to face multiple
challenges due to the lack of a legal protection mechanism. Suffering of Sri Lankan domestic workers
who are residing in Sri Lanka have become unnoticed under the current legal framework. Present
research focuses on this grey area. The main objective of the research is to analyze the existing legal
framework and emphasize the importance of a strong legal framework to address the issues faced by
such women. An empirical research methodology is used in this research. Initially a survey was
conducted in Kandy area as a step to gather information regarding the difficulties faced by women
engaged in informal work. Thereafter an analysis of data was conducted with the objective to identify
the issues more clearly and the areas where law address such issues. Then a legal analysis was carried
out to identify the current legal framework and gaps in the framework. Finally, recommendations are
suggested to fill up the gaps. The recommendations are suggested with the intention of uplifting the
lives of informal worker by giving legal protection to their rights. Statutes of both international and
domestic contexts are used as primary data. Text books and journal articles are used as secondary
data.
Keywords: informal economy, legal framework, informal worker, legal protection, informal worker’s
rights
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 117
[109]
SECULARISM, DEMOCRACY AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS: INDIA IN A GLOBAL
CONTEXT
S.B. Banerjee
Krishnath College, West Bengal, India
ABSTRACT
My paper would be a modest contribution to understanding some of the key issues surrounding the
UN Sustainable Development Goal of promoting just, peaceful and inclusive societies. In the context
of the global rise of religio-cultural fundamentalism I would harp on the mutual contingencies of the
political ideals of democracy and secularism on the one hand and the promotion of the rights of the
private individual on the other. Specifically, I would focus on the correlation between a secular
democratic state machinery and gender equity—something that, I believe, has not been emphasised
enough in contemporary feminist studies.
As a political commentator and feminist academic based in India I would concentrate on the case of
my own country. In the backdrop of recent setbacks to the ethos of pluralistic democracy in India I
would make a case for the absolute value of secularism as a state ideal. My ultimate aim would be to
highlight the inter-dependencies of secularism, minority rights and women’s liberty in a multi-
religious and multi-ethnic country like India. Inter alia, I would also argue that India should move
towards the abolition of religion-specific legal systems, like the Muslim Personal Law, and quasi-
legal formations like the Hindu Khap panchayats in favour of a uniform legal framework applicable
to all Indians irrespective of religion. Mine would be a conceptual-theoretical methodology that would
yet make use of empirical tools like relevant survey/media reports and analyses of data garnered from
authentic sources, both scholarly and popular.
Keywords: democracy, secularism, fundamentalism, India, Muslim personal law, uniform civil code
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 118
[110]
“I’M NOT YOUR DALIT”; ISSUES OF IDENTITY AND SOLIDARITY
J. Brunnekreef
Independent Researcher/ Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands
ABSTRACT
Within the Dalit movement, similar to the black movement in the US, there is a strong sentiment and
opinion going on that challenges the way white scholars and policymakers, and people who consider
themselves as part of the solidarity movement. This part of the Dalit Women movement is extremely
critical about non-Dalits portraying issues that they consider 'theirs'. For the solidarity movement this
results in painful reactions stemming from the feeling of being disgraced as 'enemies' almost. It is
leading to a reconsideration about our own ways of thinking and imaging, becoming aware of new
perspectives. As an anthropologist I am very interested in the boundaries there are/may be about how
we think and write about 'the other', even if the intentions are considered to be good (like in
'solidarity'). These boundaries are changing along with changes in our world. That has always been
the case, in a way. But maybe we can rightfully say that new boundaries in that sense are coming into
existence, due to changes in power structures worldwide, including gender structures. The issue is
also closely connected to the discourse of imaging, and in that sense to academic discussions in line
with orientalism. My approach is answering to the rules of academic work, but stems also from a
very personal background, where the issue of identity also comes in. Since I was married at a young
age with a Sri Lankan and lived in Sri Lanka as well.
Keywords: Dalits, solidarity, identity, gender, imaging
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 119
[111]
EARLY MARRIAGE: PROSPECTS OF SCHOOLGIRLS
Bhandari, N.R.
Janaki Women Awareness Society (JWAS)
ABSTRACT
Nepal is one of the highest child marriage prevalence countries in the world; the prevalence is even
higher in terai region. Marriage has the closest relation with education. The general assumption is that
school going girls are safer than out of school and dropped out girls from marrying earlier. To explore
the perspectives of school going girls on child marriage, I conducted this qualitative research at 5
schools of Dhanusha. My research participants were 60 schoolgirls from grade 9 to 10. I reviewed the
previous research reports, national statistics and legal documents on child marriages and discussed
them with girls’ perception to generate the findings. In girls view, society, neighbors, senior citizen of
community, relatives and religious leaders are the main agent who bring marriage proposal to family,
since they reach thirteen. Schoolgirls are well known about the relation of age, education, marriage
and dowry. To avoid arrange marriage and dowry in early age, sometime they do self-marriage. The
conclusion of their perceptions is that school going girls are also in high risk of early marriage.
Key Words: Perspective, Drop out, Early Marriage, Education
4th World Conference on Women’s Studies (WCWS 2018)
Page | 120
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