Where to begin? Each day that I open a newspaper in Canada, a pressing issue for feminist researc... more Where to begin? Each day that I open a newspaper in Canada, a pressing issue for feminist research leaps out. One day it is the decriminalization of prostitution, the next day the legality/decriminalization of polygamy. The day after that it could be: the place of religiouslyobservant women in multicultural societies, the failure of state-provided day-care and the feminization of flexible labour. Add to this any number of other issues that lurk in the background of our daily news – the renegotiation of masculinity and the ‘plight’ of the boy child; criminalization, masculinity and race; the many lives – and dimensions – of reproductive politics; the decline of ‘women’s studies’ as a field of academic endeavour and the rise of ‘sexuality studies’ – and a research agenda for any enterprising feminist legal studies scholar is more than full.
Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 2018
Abstract:This paper explores "conflict mining-related sexual violence" as a type of con... more Abstract:This paper explores "conflict mining-related sexual violence" as a type of conflict sexual violence, tracing the dynamic process by which this category is defined in and through the production of research. Focusing on two "conflict minerals" initiatives, I explore how data on sexual violence are positioned as an indicator for assessing armed conflict and human rights abuses in mining areas in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. I trace the methodological decisions and epistemic claims that shape what is knowable about mining-related sexual violence and which erase the significant methodological challenges in researching sexual-and gender-based violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 2015
Doing gender equality policy work increasingly involves measurement, whether through the gatherin... more Doing gender equality policy work increasingly involves measurement, whether through the gathering and analysis of data on gender inequality, or the reporting and accounting for gender programming outcomes and outputs. This introduction to a special issue on gender and the measurement imperative outlines some of the main strands in the emerging critical literature on measurement, highlighting two main themes: measurement and social construction—the ways in which regimes of measure both constitute social reality and are themselves sites of social contestation—and the governing effects of measurement regimes. I explore below some of the gendered dynamics of the social dimensions of measurement, which are the subject of feminist inquiry and/or are topics on which more research is needed.
Over the past decade, the United Nations conference has become an increasingly important site for... more Over the past decade, the United Nations conference has become an increasingly important site for contesting views on social relations. Although UN conferences cover a broad range of topics, from the environment to development, a recurrent focus of international debate has been on gender, and particularly, women's sexual and reproductive autonomy. The Beijing Conference on Women (1995) represented, in some respects, a culmination of international positioning around gender and women's rights. As such, it attracted the participation of not only a large contingent of women's organizations, but also a significant number of fundamentalist and conservative religious groups. In this article, I explore the participation of the Vatican in the Beijing process. The Vatican has a long history of involvement in international population issues which has positioned it as a leading international actor in opposing women's rights to reproductive freedom. This article focuses on the rh...
The Yugoslav war crimes tribunal convictedthree men for their role in the mass rape ofMuslim wome... more The Yugoslav war crimes tribunal convictedthree men for their role in the mass rape ofMuslim women during the conflict inBosnia-Hercegovina. That decision is a landmarkin many respects, but primarily for itsdetermination that the rape of Muslim womenamounted to a crime against humanity. Thiscomment provides an overview of the decision,exploring the significance of recognising rapeas a crime against humanity within the
Where to begin? Each day that I open a newspaper in Canada, a pressing issue for feminist researc... more Where to begin? Each day that I open a newspaper in Canada, a pressing issue for feminist research leaps out. One day it is the decriminalization of prostitution, the next day the legality/decriminalization of polygamy. The day after that it could be: the place of religiouslyobservant women in multicultural societies, the failure of state-provided day-care and the feminization of flexible labour. Add to this any number of other issues that lurk in the background of our daily news – the renegotiation of masculinity and the ‘plight’ of the boy child; criminalization, masculinity and race; the many lives – and dimensions – of reproductive politics; the decline of ‘women’s studies’ as a field of academic endeavour and the rise of ‘sexuality studies’ – and a research agenda for any enterprising feminist legal studies scholar is more than full.
Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 2018
Abstract:This paper explores "conflict mining-related sexual violence" as a type of con... more Abstract:This paper explores "conflict mining-related sexual violence" as a type of conflict sexual violence, tracing the dynamic process by which this category is defined in and through the production of research. Focusing on two "conflict minerals" initiatives, I explore how data on sexual violence are positioned as an indicator for assessing armed conflict and human rights abuses in mining areas in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. I trace the methodological decisions and epistemic claims that shape what is knowable about mining-related sexual violence and which erase the significant methodological challenges in researching sexual-and gender-based violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 2015
Doing gender equality policy work increasingly involves measurement, whether through the gatherin... more Doing gender equality policy work increasingly involves measurement, whether through the gathering and analysis of data on gender inequality, or the reporting and accounting for gender programming outcomes and outputs. This introduction to a special issue on gender and the measurement imperative outlines some of the main strands in the emerging critical literature on measurement, highlighting two main themes: measurement and social construction—the ways in which regimes of measure both constitute social reality and are themselves sites of social contestation—and the governing effects of measurement regimes. I explore below some of the gendered dynamics of the social dimensions of measurement, which are the subject of feminist inquiry and/or are topics on which more research is needed.
Over the past decade, the United Nations conference has become an increasingly important site for... more Over the past decade, the United Nations conference has become an increasingly important site for contesting views on social relations. Although UN conferences cover a broad range of topics, from the environment to development, a recurrent focus of international debate has been on gender, and particularly, women's sexual and reproductive autonomy. The Beijing Conference on Women (1995) represented, in some respects, a culmination of international positioning around gender and women's rights. As such, it attracted the participation of not only a large contingent of women's organizations, but also a significant number of fundamentalist and conservative religious groups. In this article, I explore the participation of the Vatican in the Beijing process. The Vatican has a long history of involvement in international population issues which has positioned it as a leading international actor in opposing women's rights to reproductive freedom. This article focuses on the rh...
The Yugoslav war crimes tribunal convictedthree men for their role in the mass rape ofMuslim wome... more The Yugoslav war crimes tribunal convictedthree men for their role in the mass rape ofMuslim women during the conflict inBosnia-Hercegovina. That decision is a landmarkin many respects, but primarily for itsdetermination that the rape of Muslim womenamounted to a crime against humanity. Thiscomment provides an overview of the decision,exploring the significance of recognising rapeas a crime against humanity within the
This Report is an examination of the police and institutional responses to sexual violence at Ont... more This Report is an examination of the police and institutional responses to sexual violence at Ontario university campuses.
It is based on a comprehensive desk study of the extant literature as well as site studies at three Ontario universities: Carleton University, Lakehead University and the University of Waterloo. The study was conducted over a four-month period (March-June 2016) and includes approximately 120 hours of interview data. We interviewed three respondent groups: (1) campus administrators and service providers (n=50), (2) campus and local police (n=29), and (3) sexual violence survivors (n=18) and students (n=29).
Uploads
Papers by Doris Buss
It is based on a comprehensive desk study of the extant literature as well as site studies at three Ontario universities: Carleton University, Lakehead University and the University of Waterloo. The study was conducted over a four-month period (March-June 2016) and includes approximately 120 hours of interview data. We interviewed three respondent groups: (1) campus administrators and service providers (n=50), (2) campus and local police (n=29), and (3) sexual violence survivors (n=18) and students (n=29).