Laws or bills in over 65 countries around the world criminalize or attempt to criminalize LGBTQI+, for which we prefer the more global-South inclusive term gender and/or sexual diverse (GSD) intimacies and identities. New, proposed legislations in Africa, for example, recommend punishment for academics, non-governmental organizations, and even family members who fail to report GSD persons to local enforcement authorities. One dilemma in studying GSD is that national laws do not tell us what is happening ‘on the ground’. In some countries, formal laws threaten long prison terms for GSD persons, but in practice this may rarely happen. What does happen to them is little known.
Questions about what is actually happening to GSD persons are difficult to answer by examining legislation, social media, or surveys about societal tolerance. This conference focuses on other means of learning about GSD's lives, especially interviews and participant observation. The conference Voices and Violences Unheard: Re-imagining LGBTQI+ Relationships in the Global South is interested in how GSD persons interact at the everyday street level with local authorities and security actors.
We welcome presentations from a wide range of disciplines that deal with:
- Relationships between GSD and authorities at the street-level. This includes with police, army, sports, family, religious authorities, or traditional authorities in societies in the global South.
- Best practices in relationships between GSD persons and authorities in the global South.
- Violence against GSDs. What are the main causes of violence against GSD persons in the global South?
- GSD and supportive NGOS: GSDs’ perspectives on their relationships with NGOs.
- NGO’s perspectives on their relationships with GSD persons.
- GSD-supportive NGOs’ perspectives on their relationships with other stakeholders: NGOs, ministries, institutions, and media in the global South.
- Navigating legal landscapes: How GSDs navigate and respond to existing and proposed legislations that criminalize their identity and daily interactions.
- Exploring community support networks: What support networks exist for GSDs and how do these support networks provide for the safety, security and solidarity of GSDs who feel under threat?
- Mental health and wellbeing: What mental health challenges do GSDs face due to societal stigma, discrimination and legal threats?
- Economic survival strategies: How do GSDs sustain themselves financially in the face of discrimination and violence in hostile social environments?
- Cultural and religious influences: What is the impact of religious and cultural beliefs about GSDs and how do leaders of religious and cultural institutions impact the treatment and acceptance of GSDs persons in societies of the global South?
- Resistance: What are strategies of resistance adopted by GSDs in the face of social and state-sponsored stigma, discrimination and violence?
Please submit your abstract for an in-person presentation using this FORM (abstracts submitted via email will not be considered). The submission deadline is 15 October 2025 (at midnight, any time in the world). The abstract of max. 300 words should outline the empirical data used (who, where, when), the theoretical and methodological approaches, the research question or problem, the main argument, and a summary of conclusions/implications for research. Decisions will be announced by 15 December 2025.
Questions? Contact the organizing team: acacia-project@jyu.fi
For the abstract submission, use the FORM
