EQUIMOB researchers participate in Share-net Community of Practice Meeting

Three of the EQUIMOB researchers, including PI Prof Dr. Ajay Bailey, Ms. Seama Mowri and Prof. Sanghamitra Roy presented in an invite-only virtual meeting hosted by Share-Net Netherlands (SNNL) exploring the intersection between two of our communities of practice (CoPs) focus areas around Engaging men and boys (EM&B) and Gender-based violence (GBV). The meeting discussion centered around the theory of intersectionality as a useful concept to map overlapping forms of oppression/vulnerability and linked to participants’ respective organizational priorities. It also looked at the concept of power (over/to/with/within) and how can this be used by men and women to understand and change attitudes around violence.

The first presentation was by Henny Slegh, Director International Programmes at Living Peace Institute DRC and Senior fellow for Promundo-US. She spoke on the ‘Intersections between gender, conflict and MHPSS needs (mental health and psychosocial support)’ highlighting the role of gendered coping in violence reproduction and the way how our MHPSS and gender transformative programs contribute to end cycles of violence (against women and girls, between men and communities etc. by reducing trauma).

Next, Professor Ajay Bailey presented on ‘Applying an intersectional lens to understand the barriers and lived experiences of accessing public transport in India and Bangladesh’ citing the EQUIMOB project and its user-centered intersectional approach that recognizes how multiple forms of social stratification (e.g. class, gender, age and disability) intersect to produce urban mobility inequalities for marginalized groups. Ms. Seama Mowri contributed to the discussion by bringing in primary insights from her research and media’s role in framing sexual violence within public transport. She spoke about the role of institutions (school, state, media) in perpetuating and sustaining gender-based violence through language and framing.