
2 Days,
93 Delegates
from 32 countries
What people say?
“Thank you once again for organizing such a wonderful conference that provided me this amazing platform to present my work.”
“I would like to congratulate you for organizing such a successful event. All the very best for all your future projects. I would love to be remain part of WomenBeing platform.”
“I really enjoyed the conference, thank you very much. The discussed content and the organization was great!”
“(…) I think the programme looks great and so wish I could attend – but am not available this time
around. Keep in touch.”
“Thank you so much for organising the conference. I found it so interesting and really inspiring. You did a really great job in bringing together a very diverse range of speakers.”
“Thank you for the great experience, the conference was really impressing. For me personally the greatest impact was in the quality of a keynotes speakers, diversity of viewpoints on gender equality topic and getting personal insights from all over the world. Thank you!”
“I wanted to email to thank you for organising such an engaging and uplifting conference – it really was a delight to be there.”
“Thanks Claire, I’m pleased it was such a huge success. The delegates certainly looked as if they were enjoying their 2 days and it was lovely to have so many people with different international backgrounds on campus. It was also lovely to work with yourself, Monica and her team as everyone has been so enthusiastic about everything. It’s also great that we will be hosting another 2 Women Being events at QMU in 2018 to continue all the great work”
“Indeed, it was amazing and great we had such a wonderful historic conference. Your contribution was immense. I congratulate again.”
“It is promising you will be able to work for further important and meaning things as a social entrepreneur.”
“Thank you for your note and for putting on such a fantastic conference. I really thought our entire panel was terrific and I found many of the talks to be eye-opening (…) Thanks again for everything, Monica! Let’s definitely stay in touch.”
“I just wanted to get in touch to say a huge thank you to you and all your team for hosting such a wonderful conference. You did a fantastic job of bring so many interesting women together to talk about a really diverse number of topics. Thanks for allowing me to be part of it!”
“Thank you again for organising such a phenomenal conference. I look forward to the next one.”
“It was such a privilege. There is nothing I love more than being able to share ideas with a room full of like-minded people and I honestly do it from the heart so thank you for the opportunity of allowing me to do what I love. Please stay in touch I am so proud of you! although I have only just recently met you, but there is just something about visionary women that I am like “Yes that is a sister” and like I said this is sisterhood so keep going you have my support all the way!”

Professor Emma L. E. Rees
‘Who broke feminism? The obligation of privilege’
Emma Rees is Professor of Literature and Gender Studies at the University of Chester, and Director of the Institute of Gender Studies.
She has written extensively in the field of gender and representation, and her most recent book, The Vagina: A Literary and Cultural History (Bloomsbury) came out in paperback early in 2015. She is currently finishing her third book, due to be published in 2018, which has the working title of That is a Feminist Issue.

Anna Zobnina
Migrant Women in Europe: Finding Political Voice through Radical Sisterhood
Born in St.Petersburg, Russia, Anna has over 10 years of experience in the area of intersectional feminist analysis of violence & discrimination against women, with specific focus on migrant women, sexual exploitation and care economy.
She is a former Research Analyst with the Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies (MIGS) and a selected expert with the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE). She served as European Network of Migrant Women (ENoMW) chair in 2014-2017 and currently works on the capacity building of the network, strategic advocacy and strengthening the inclusion of migrant women voices in the EU decision-making across such areas as access to labour & justice, sexual & reproductive rights and civic participation.

Tina Antwi
Equally flawless: The beauty of diversity and equal representation of women in the fashion, media, and creative industry
Tina Antwi, also known as Tina Charisma is a finalist of Miss Universe Great Britain 2017 as well as a Model, Speaker, Writer and a Youth Development Worker based in London. She campaigns, writes and speaks on issues related to women, diversity, culture, beauty, media and education. In addition, Tina is currently writing her book “Black Skin Carved Mask” which focuses on sense of belonging and identity of second generation West African immigrants in the UK.

Jane Mansour
WomenBeingWork: How women out of work, on fringes of work, in low paid or insecure work can gain control of their working lives.
Jane Mansour has a rich and varied combination of international operational and policy experience in the employment, skills and anti-poverty fields.
She has been at the forefront of highlighting the need for long-term, career path-led approaches in active labour market programmes, publishing Skills and Sustainable Welfare to Work in 2005.
Recent research work has involved identifying how to improve access to skills support for people in low-paid work; identifying how to build better employment and skills services for female refugees and asylum seekers; and the publication of a review of UK child poverty policy in the US journal Academic Pediatrics.
As an independent consultant her clients include the World Bank, UK and US think tanks, delivery organisations, international charities and social enterprises. She was the founder and Director of the Ingeus Centre for Policy and Research, a think tank embedded within a welfare-to- work delivery organisation, before leaving for a four-year stint in Boston in 2010.
She returned to the UK in August 2014. Her expertise is in translating policy goals into practical, deliverable interventions.

Sonali Mohapatra
Ingrained gender bias in academia: How I realised I needed female role models.
Sonali is a Chancellors PhD Fellow in Theoretical Physics at the University of Sussex at Brighton.
Having graduated as the valedictorian of Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, her research deals with Black holes and Quantum Gravity. She is also a blogger, poet, spoken word performer and the author of the poetry compilation “Leaking Ink”.
She uses her blog, poetry and Facebook as means of effective dialogue to spread awareness regarding gender struggles both in and out of academia drawing on her own experience and stories shared with her by others. She is the PhD representative for the Athena Swan Chapter for diversity at Sussex, is the founder of a feminist/identity related magazine Carved Voices and will soon found a collaborative medium blog titled “The Hysterical Lady” to focus exclusively on gender issues. She has been interviewed by CBC radio, Canada, “Amader Orthoneeti”, Bangladesh, My City Links, Bhubaneswar, India and various other media and has recently been featured as one of the twelve women scientist speakers at SOAPBOX Science, Brighton and likes to use these media to inspire future women scientists and dispel certain gender related myths floating around academia.

Dr. Skye Saunders
‘Grace Under Fire’- A Short Film Screening and Conversation with Dr Skye Saunders of the Australian National University.
Dr Skye Saunders is a legal academic from the Australian National University and is an advocate for issues of sexual harassment and bullying in Australia. With a particular interest in gendered harm in rural communities, she is the author of the book, Whispers from the Bush – The Workplace Sexual Harassment of Australian Rural Women. In collaboration with the Victorian Womens’ Trust, Skye has just recently finished making a short film based on Whispers from the Bush called ‘Grace Under Fire’. Skye is also the Acting Director of the Australian National University’s professional legal education programs and has formerly practised as a solicitor in the area of Employment/ Discrimination Law in Canberra. She is a regular speaker at conferences and events, both in Australia and internationally.
A. H. M. Ershad Uddin
Marmara University Istanbul, Turkey
Title of work:
The institution of marriage in a misleading direction due to societal and environmental factors: an evaluation in the light of Islamic Law
A. O. Fahm
University of Ilorin, Nigeria
Title of the work:
Contesting the Disparity Bill on Inheritance: An Investigation into Islamic View on Gender Equity in Nigeria
Ajlaa Shazwani Mokhtar
UWE Bristol, United Kingdom
Title of the work:
Women in senior management in Malaysia
Amalia Verdu
University of Turku, Finland
Title of the work:
Are women persons?
Ana José
Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre, Portugal
Title of the work:
From an idead to an humanitarian association. Volunteer women profile in the refugees crisis.
Anne Meikle
Women’s Enterprise Scotland, United Kingdom
Title of the work:
Strengthening the Scottish. Economy through the power of Women’s Enterprise
Arianna Briganti
University of Cumbria, United Kingdom
Title of the work:
How can I improve my practice? A journey into my personal and professional growth as a development worker engaged with gender inequalities in Ethiopia
Caprice Weissenrieder
Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Title of work:
Acceptance and career success – How will I know as a female executive that I am accepted?
Catriona Stewart
Scottish Autism, United Kingdom
Title of work:
Information and Inspiration: Building routes to empowerment for autistic women & girls
Chandiwari Mallawa Arachchi
LLB (Hons), Sri Lanka
Title of work:
Women victims still waiting for the Justice to be done
Christiana Ogbogu
Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria
Title of work:
An evaluation of the labour input of female administrative staff in Nigerian Public Universities
Daniela Di Basilio
Manchester Metropolitan University, United Kingdom
Title of work:
Leaving an abusive relationship: a dual perspective
Emily Witko
Saint Louis University, United States of America
Title of work:
Collision of Diversity and Finance in Business
Fatima Bi
Berhampur University, India
Title of work:
Muslim girls child education profile in Sambalpur town of Odisha
Federica Bressan
Ghant University, Belgium
Title of work:
The challenge of integrating gender analysis in gender non-related research: The experience of an interdisciplinary project on multimedia cultural heritage
Fiona Abades Barclay
United Kingdom
Title of work:
‘It’s not luck. it’s called DISCIPLINE”: Exploring discourses of fitness and gender on social media networks.
Firas Kasassbeh
UAEU, United Arab Emirates
Title of work:
The impact of CEDAW on the Labour Laws of Jordan and the UAE: A comparative study with English Law.
Francesca El Asmar
Women’s Access to Justice Project Officer – Oxfam, Lebanon
Title of work:
Writing Lebanese Women into History: Masculinity, Femininity and the Civil War
Ilisha Mehta
Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, India
Title of work:
Turning the lens around: A study of Tomoyo Daidouji, The Cardcaptor’s Best Friend
Ishrat Khan
University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
Title of work:
Exposure to SRHR knowledge among young university students, and prevention of Violence against women and girls in Bangladesh
Iti Tyagi
Crisil Ltd., India
Title of work:
Gender Pay gap – seeking dialogue
Karla Bloomfield
University of Northern British Columbia, Canada
Title of work:
“Camp Wives”: Working class Women in Northwestern Canada
Judy A. Hayden
University of Tampa, U.S.A.
Title of work:
President Trump’s war on women
Karolina Maria Rojek
University of Wroclaw, Poland
Title of work:
Mexican Street Art as an Instrument of Social Fight and Political Protest
Kimiko Abe
Meiji Gakuin University, Japan
Title of work:
Fake news? Sexual harassments and attacks as causes of failure
Kumaresh Singh
B. N. Mandal University, India
Title of work:
India State and the Empowerment of Women
Lisa Avalos
University of Arkansas, United States of America
Title of work:
Policing Rape Complaints: When Reporting Rape Becomes a Crime
Lisa Buchanan
University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom
Title of work:
Female Professionals’ Experiences whilst Accessing and Undergoing Fertility Treatment: Voice and (In)Visibility in the Workplace
Lorna Hill
Stirling University, United Kingdom
Title of work:
Empowering women through creative writing
Madison Kurchik
University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Title of work:
Invisible women: A case study of posters in the workplace
Maya Schwartz Läufer
Ginsburg Haoren High School, Israel
Title of work:
Lesbian cinematic representation evolution since the 1930’s -Today
Marika Kytölä
University of Turku, Finland
Title of work:
Finish work-life and right to breastfeeding breaks
Martina Dickson
Emirates College for Advanced Education, United Arab Emirates
Title of work:
Expatriate academic mothers in the United Arab Emirates: helped or hindered by their location?
Maya Schwartz Läufer
Ginsburg Haoren High School, Israel
Title of work:
Lesbian cinematic representation evolution since the 1930’s -Today
Marika Kytölä
University of Turku, Finland
Title of work:
Finish work-life and right to breastfeeding breaks
Martina Dickson
Emirates College for Advanced Education, United Arab Emirates
Title of work:
Expatriate academic mothers in the United Arab Emirates: helped or hindered by their location?
Mei Yang
Massey University, New Zealand and Northwest A&F University, China
Title of work:
A study on the development of women professional farmers in Shaanxi, China
Mertcan Uzun
Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
Title of work:
How does the heteronormative structure of a given country affect its people’s attitudes towards homosexuality? Establishing a Heteronormative Typology
Natalia Naumova
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine
Title of work:
Perspectives of the gender equity in science and higher education institutions in Ukraine
Nigiar Isgandarova
Sumgayit State University, Azerbaijan
Title of work:
Women in the war: Orientalist discourse
Pagyah Singh
Hyderabad Central University, India
Title of work:
Curse of Migration: the left wives of Bihari migrants.
Priyam Singh
Galgotias University, India
Title of work:
Does the Sheen of Motherhood leave behind every other success in a woman’s life?
Priyanka Verma
University of Bedfordshire, United Kingdom
Title of work:
“The very vilest cinema things”: Gender, vulnerability, representation and feminism.
Qazi Sarah Rasheed
Indian Institute of Technology, India
Title of work:
Islamic feminism in India: A tale of tryst with conflicting identities.
Ranjeet Nath
Institute of International Education, India
Title of work:
Women and Gender Equity
Rebeca Irons
University College London, United Kingdom
Title of work:
Quechua Indigenous women and the national family planning service in Peru: Working towards greater equality or not?
Regine Graml
Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Title of work:
Life Patterns of Female and Male Executives
Sadia Huda
Quaid i Azam University, Pakistan
Title of work:
Exploring and understanding factor contributing towards honour killings in Pakistan: A qualitative inquiry
Sarah Fox
Manchester Metropolitan University, United Kingdom
Title of work:
“Listen” Women’s Experiences of Substance Use, Domestic Abuse and Support
Sistiadinita Bang Satria
University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom
Title of work:
Investigating the Detectives: The Study of Human Nature Presented by Different Genders in Agatha Christie’s Novels
Tatjana Jungkunz
Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg, Germany
Title of work:
Who needs feminism? The interplay between post materialism and degrees of feminist values.
Tzu-Ling Lai
Ming Chuan University, Taiwan
Title of work:
A study on the relationships among workplace stress, personal resource, and occupational behaviour: The gender differences.
Usharini Rathinam
University of Reading, United Kingdom
Title of work:
Elements of poverty and it’s relationship to gender inequalities: a case study in India
Usharini Rathinam
University of Reading, United Kingdom
Title of work:
Elements of poverty and it’s relationship to gender inequalities: a case study in India
Usharini Rathinam
University of Reading, United Kingdom
Title of work:
Is mobile technology gender neutral: Complex intersectionalities of gender, mobile technology and inequalities?
Yvette Basson
University of the Western Cape, South Africa
Title of work:
Twice vulnerable: The socio-economic position of women and girls with disabilities in relation to their peers.
Zahra Sheikhi Shahidzadeh
Persian Gulf University of Bushehr, Islamic Republic of Iran
Title of work:
Reversal of the role of the sexes in Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
(online presentation)
CONFERENCE PROGRAMME