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Events

Events from the Feminist Legal Research and Action Network, and the wider community.

Upcoming events

Sex, Law, and the Legal Form: The Sexual Contract Revisted

2 December 2024 | 16.30 | School of Law and Social Justice Building

Speaker: Jenny Logan (PhD candidate in Law at Birkbeck College, University of London, and Visiting Professor at the University of Oregon School of Law)

Joint Liverpool Public Law Unit (LPLU) and Feminist Legal Research and Action Network (FRAN) event.

Despite, or perhaps because of, its championing by feminists, the rise of consent to prominence in both criminal rape law and the social imaginary over the last 50 years can be said to be a project of neoliberal governmentality that is focused on fostering particular forms of self-mastery and sexual agency by transforming intimate relationships into contractual ones. In turn, the prominence of consent as a legal standard obscures the role of legal form and status property in determining the parameters of sexual violence law. Through case studies of consent apps and campus sex education, this talk will address the contemporary law of consent and its construction of social relations in the 21st century. What, if anything, is the role of law in meeting our emancipatory demands to be free from sexual harm? Is it doomed to refigure these demands for the purposes of promoting market values and Individual responsibility?

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If you would like to stay updated on future events from the Liverpool Public Law Unit, please contact slsjmret@liverpool.ac.uk to join the mailing list.

 

Past event highlights

Baroness Hale: The 200-year struggle for mothers’ rights

14 November 2024 | 15:00 - 16:30 | Central Teaching Hub Lecture Theatre B, Liverpool, L69 7BX

The Selden’s Sister Inaugural Annual Lecture

The Rt Hon Baroness Hale of Richmond will trace the evolution of mothers’ rights from the reforming Custody of Infants Act 1839 (Talfourd’s Act). That Act merely allowed mothers to petition the court for custody of their children under seven and granted them the opportunity to petition for access to their older children. She will consider the wider and more child focused legislation of the late 19th Century and the growing recognition of mothers’ rights from then to the major reforming Acts of the 20th Century, the Guardianship of Infants Act 1925 and the Guardianship Act 1972, and ask what equal parental ‘rights and authority’ mean today.

If you would like to stay updated on future events from the Feminist Legal Research and Action Network, please contact slsjmret@liverpool.ac.uk to join the mailing list. 

 

Activism, Change and Feminist Futures: Remembering the Past to Reimagine the Future

7 - 8 November 2024 | University of Liverpool

The call for papers is now open for our third joint international annual conference. The conference will showcase work which is feminist and transdisciplinary in orientation, and that offers innovations in theory, research, and activism relative to thinking through change and working towards more ethical, inclusive, and feminist futures. This is a two-day in-person conference. 

 

Navigating Menopause in the Workplace

22 October 2024 | 15:30 | School of Law and Social Justice Building

Speaker: Dr Eugenia Caracciolo di Torella, Leicester Law School

Menopause is a normal and inevitable part of ageing that affects all people who have a menstrual cycle. It is estimated that in the UK menopause concerns 51% of the population. Menopause’s symptoms include hot flushes, sleeping difficulties, anxiety, low self-esteem, ‘brain fog’ (problems with memory or concentration), to mention a few. For some women, these symptoms are mild.

But for others, they can be severe, and in certain situations even debilitating and, ultimately, can impact on their ability to work. Yet, traditionally, menopause was not a topic that was openly discussed, let alone regulated, but things have started to change. Today, there is a growing awareness and understanding of menopause.

 

Women in Legal History Networking Event

8 December 2023 | School of Law and Social Justice Building

Scholars of all genders, disciplines, and career stages were invited to attend a day of networking and discussion about women in legal history. 

Selden’s Sister are a collaborative body of legal historians across multiple UKHE institutions. We seek to champion the work of contemporary female legal historians, and highlight past contributions of women to legal history.

 

'Thinking Theory, Research, and Practice: The Feminist Politics of Social Justice' Conference

9 - 10 November 2023 | School of Law and Social Justice Building

A joint conference from the LEX, VAWGRN, FRAN, and CSEL research networks. The two-day conference showcased work which is feminist and transdisciplinary in orientation, and that offered innovations in theory, research, and practice relative to global social justice issues. 

 

Using Rights to Challenge Family Separation by Imprisonment

6 October 2023 | School of Law and Social Justice Building 

Event jointly organised by the Feminist Legal Research and Action Network (FRAN), the European Children's Rights Unit (ECRU), and the International Criminological Research Unit (ICRU). Dr Shona Minson, British Academy Post Doctoral Fellow at the Centre for Criminology at the University of Oxford, gave the lecture. 

In the family courts the welfare of children who are separated from their parents due to abuse, harm or neglect is the ‘paramount consideration of the court’ under section 1 of the Children Act 1989. In the criminal courts, when a parent is sentenced to imprisonment, there is no guarantee that the court will even be aware of the existence of the child. As a former family lawyer Shona was bothered by this differentiated treatment and it has formed the basis for ten years of research and advocacy.

This presentation focussed on the use of child rights to challenge family separation by imprisonment, drawing on Shona’s empirical studies of the sentencing of mothers, children’s experiences of parental imprisonment during Covid lockdowns, and access to procedural justice for women in prison whose children are the subject of family court proceedings. Shona also reflected on some ‘lessons learned the hard way’ including the challenges of ‘activist research’ which seeks to influence practice and policy, reformist/ abolitionist dilemmas when engaging in research which may be co-opted to maintain imprisonment, and how not to burnout whilst doing all of the above!

 

Women’s Legal History Symposium

1 September 2023 | School of Law and Social Justice Building

Selden's Sisters presented Celebrating Women in Legal History: The Lives and Legacies of Early Women Legal Historians. 

 

Conceptualising a decolonising rule of law for animals

21 June 2023 | School of Law and Social Justice Building

We were joined by Maneesha Deckha, Professor and Lansdowne Chair in Law at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada. Her research expertise includes critical animal law, vegan ecofeminist theory, and postcolonial theory. Within animal law, there is growing interest to connecting the problem of animal welfare underenforcement and the self-governing nature of animal-use industries to the rule of law, a foundational constitutional and governing principle in jurisdictions across the world. That the rule of law is now globally ubiquitous is generally applauded, and this paper will explore its possible extension to animals.

 

Medico-Legal Regulation of Sex and Gender Identities in Childhood

23 November 2022 | Rendall Building, University of Liverpool 

A workshop hosted by the Health Law and Regulation Unit, Feminist Legal Research and Action Network, and European Children's Rights Unit.

  • Dr Aileen Kennedy, University of New England, presented on 'The Brain-Sex Binary in Law'.
  • Dr Fae Gardland, University of Manchester, and Dr Ed Horowicz, University of Liverpool, presented on 'From Clinical to Judicial Decision-Making, and Back Again in Bell v Tavistock? Preparing for the Legacy of Court Involvement in Gender Care for Minors'. 

 

(Re)Connecting on Gender-Based Violence

10th - 11th November 2022

This 1.5-day workshop will provide a supportive and inclusive environment that is intended to enable colleagues to (re)engage with one another about our research, hopes and fears after a challenging year of reflection, disruption and loss.

LGBT flag

 

An Uncharitable Alliance: A Roundtable Discussion on Mermaids v. The Charity Commission and the LGB Alliance

11 November 2022 | University of Liverpool 

In this case, Mermaids (a charity representing and advocating for transgender, nonbinary and gender-diverse children, young people and their families) challenges the charitable status given to the LGB Alliance. Mermaids alleges that ‘LGB Alliance is not actually tackling problems facing lesbian, gay and bisexual people, but rather seeking to prevent the resolution of problems facing transgender persons’.

In other words, they have an ‘anti-trans’ rather than ‘pro-LGB’ focus, with many of their campaigns particularly targeting the affirmation of the gender identity of trans children. This, Mermaids argues, is not a charitable purpose within the meaning of the relevant legislation.

 

Feminist Approaches to Sex and Gender in Law: Beyond Binaries and Legal Certification

30 September 2022 | University of Liverpool

The Feminist Legal Research and Action Network (FRAN) launch event, which was joined by Professor Davina Cooper, King's College London; Jessica Randall, University of Liverpool; and Dr Flora Renz, University of Kent. 

  • Professor Cooper presented on 'Do-It-Yourself Law-Making in Turbulent Times: Decertification as a Feminist Law Reform Project'.
  • Jessica Randall presented on 'Thinking Inside the Box: The Opposition to Trans Recognition'.
  • Dr Renz presented on 'Gender Categories in the Home: A New Focus for Feminist Legal Theory?'

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