The fifth seminar in our series on the UN Sustainable Development Goals takes place at 13.00 on 28 March in the UCD Sutherland School of Law. This seminar will focus on the theme of gender-based violence in local and global contexts and will explore the growth of the commercial sex industry, gender and harm, as well as issues of gender equality, gender-based violence and humaniarian action in situations of conflict in southern and global contexts. There will be three presenters:
Dr Monica O’ Connor is Senior Researcher on the UCD Sexual Exploitation Research Project (SERP) and has been an independent academic/policy-maker and activist on gender-based violence for very many years, mainly in an Irish. but also EU Context and has recently published The Sex Industry (Agenda Press, 2019). Monica worked for Women’s Aid for many years in the 1980s and subsequently jointly authored the first report on Globalisation, Sex Trafficking, Prostitution – the experiences of migrant women in Ireland in 2009 (Kelleher Associates, O’ Connor, M and Pillinger, J) published with the Immigrant Council of Ireland. Monica served as a ministerial appointee on the firstTask Force on Violence against Women in Ireland and was the Irish expert on the European Women’s Lobby Observatory on Violence against Women for many years.
Pat O’ Connor, Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Limerick and Visiting Professor, Geary Institute, University College Dublin. Pat’s research interests are currently focused on gender equality in higher education: with a particular focus on organisational culture, leadership and management, Her latest book, edited with Kate White, is Gendered Success in Higher Education: Global Perspectives (2017) published by Palgrave Macmillan. Pat was a member of the National Review on Gender Equality in Irish Higher Education Institutions (2016) and member of Women in Higher Education Management Network (WHEM).
Niamh Kingston is the Coordinator of the International School on Gender Based Violence in the Centre for Humanitarian Action, University College Dublin. She is a graduate of the MSc in Humanitarian Action and has previously worked in both the private and NGO sectors. Niamh’s main research interests include: adolescent sexual and reproductive health, addressing gender-based violence in emergency settings and challenges pertaining to global gender inequalities.
Ursula Barry will chair the Seminar as Director of the UCD MA in Gender Studies, contributor to BSoc Sci Social Justice Programme and Co-Director of the UCD Centre for Gender, Feminisms and Sexualities (CGFS). Ursula represents Ireland on the EU Research Network on Scientific Analysis and Assessment of Gender Equality Policies
The seminars are open to all – whether you’re a researcher, a student or are just interested in learning more about the research that is helping to address the SDGs.