[ENG] Dear members of the ESC Working Group on Gender and Justice

‘Women, Crime and Justice in a Changing Europe’ 24th and 25th April 2017

 Whilst we realise that this is fairly short notice, we are very pleased to announce that there will be a meeting and mini-conference for the ESC Working Group on Gender and Justice to be held on 24th and 25th April 2017  at the Universidad A Coruña in Galicia, Spain.

The theme of the mini-conference  is ‘Gender, Crime and Justice in a Changing Europe’ and we invite titles and abstracts for short papers which address this  core theme.

 Whilst the  European Union has long championed gender equality, and has been at the forefront of initiatives in relation to  violence against women, there has nonetheless been a noticeable gap in relation to debates and policies concerning women,  crime and justice.  Within a context of  economic crisis and fragility, Europe faces major challenges and is undergoing monumental change.  Many countries in Europe are seeing massive cuts in pubic services, reductions in health and social care, rising food and transport costs and increased rates of unemployment. Patterns of forced migration and flows of people through and across Europe pose great challenges. Some countries face huge  debts and are imposing wide ranging cuts on  public spending and health and welfare services. Poverty and social exclusion are  increasing. Support services are diminishing. These  conditions, taken together, pose  immense  challenges to  political systems. But they also  create the social and economic conditions which give rise to crime and the disproportionate criminalisation of certain groups.  At the same time,  many countries are witnessing rising rates of female imprisonment and reduced access to alternative forms of punishment.  What are the implications of a changing Europe for achieving justice for women ?   We therefore welcome papers on any aspect of women,  crime  and justice in a changing Europe.

 As well as allowing for an opportunity to meet outside the confines of the ESC annual conference, this  mini-conference will  provide a forum for encouraging encourage debate and analysis on the important topic of women  and justice in Europe, but will also  allow us an opportunity to hear about each others’ work, plan  future Working Group activities and general networking. The event will take place at the Universidad A Coruña, and will be hosted by Professor Patricia Faraldo Cabana and her colleagues in the Law School. The  conference accommodation will be in the delightful  city of A Coruña in the northwest of Spain. 

 Thanks to the generosity of the universities of A Coruña  and of Cambridge, there are no costs to attend the event and there are  funds available to cover accommodation costs in A Coruña for two nights for up to 30 people.  However, there are no funds to cover the  travel costs of delegates, although a limited number of travel bursaries will be available to assist PhD  researchers  to attend.

 If you would plan  to attend this event please can you register interest  to michele.burman@glasgow.ac.uk by 1st March 2017  clearly marking your email  ‘ESC WG Gender and Justice A Coruña’  so we can make the accommodation bookings and plan for a set number of attendees.. If you plan to  present a paper then please  can you send in the title and abstract  to the same address no later than  12th  March 2017. Details of the programme will be circulated to attendees no later than March 31st 2017.

 If you are a PhD student or a postdoctoral student and  have no other recourse to funds to allow you to attend, and  wish to apply for a travel bursary then please submit a short application,  providing the details below, along with a short reference letter from a supervisor. Preference will normally be given to those wishing to travel outside their country of residence: 

 Name:

University:

Current role (PhD/PostDoc):

Anticipated costs of travel:  

Principal reason for wishing to attend: 

Title of  paper you plan to present: