April 6, 2004

Wellesley, MA — The Wellesley Centers for Women will hostits 2004 International Research & Action Conference: Innovations in Understanding Violence Against Women April 25-28, 2004,in Wellesley, MA. The conference, co-chaired by Linda Williams, Nada Aoudeh,and Victoria Banyard, will build global collaborations to mitigate and prevent violence against women, a critical issue that crossesall national, economic, ethnic, and social lines. The conference will foster the sharing, demonstration, and promotion of innovative research among participants from more than 30 countries. This three-day meeting will include presentations and discussions on:

• Violence against women in war zones and conflict areas
• Prostitution and trafficking
• Violence against women and HIV/AIDS
• Gender-based violence in schools
• Violence against women as a violation of human rights

Conference highlights include:
Opening plenary, Sunday, April 25, 7:00 p.m.

• Carolyn West, University of Washington, Tacoma
  Charting a New Course: New Directions for Action and Research on Gender-Based Violence

Keynote address, Monday, April 26, 8:45 a.m.

• Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, Hebrew University
  Violence Against Women in War Zones and Conflict Areas: The Forgotten Crimes

Panel plenary, Tuesday, April 27, 8:45 a.m.
Women at the Crossroad:Violence and the Intersection of Multiple Oppressions

• Sherene Razack, University of Toronto
  Imperilled Muslim Women, Dangerous Muslim Men and Civilized Europeans: Legal and Social Responses to Forced Marriages
• Khatidja Chantler, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
  Domestic Violence: Critical Perspectives on Persecutors, Rescuers and Victims
• Naeemah Abrahams, South Africa Medical Research Council
  South African Responses to Gender Based Violence: Engaging with the Issues of Race, Class, Culture, and Gender

Closing session, Wednesday, April 28, 10:30 a.m.

• Indai Sajor, United Nations University of Peace
  The Women's Movement: Confronting the Backlash, Consolidating our Gains and Organizing for Change

Boston-area participants will include, in addition to presenters from the Wellesley Centers for Women and Wellesley College, representatives of:

• Harvard School of Public Health
• New England School of Law
• Boston University School of Public Health
• Casa Myrna Vazquez
• Brandeis University
• Wheaton College

The conference will be held at the Babson Center for Executive Education in Wellesley, MA. More detailed information, including an overview of the agenda, is available here.

The Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) is the world’s largest women’s research organization and is a resource for expert opinion, analysis, and recommended action on an array of issues, including national and international gender violence,women and leadership, women's psychological growth and development, gender equitable education, out-of-school time, and child and adolescent self-identity and development.

2004 marks 30 years of groundbreaking work at WCW, work that has generated changes in policies, practices, and attitudes by presenting innovative ways of looking at critical issues.