The Inviting Voice/Creating Space for Cowichan Valley Women project “will investigate how Cowichan women’s experiences of marginalization and social exclusion affect their participation in community life as well as their health and well-being. The project will also develop a collaborative strategy for women’s health action, by identifying the actions or systemic changes that will facilitate safety, well-being and social inclusion if implemented as health promotion strategies. This three-year project will generate locally relevant actions at both service and policy levels.”

In addition, the team has secured funding from Kloshe Tillicum, for the purposes of bringing on First Nations women community members as research assistants on the project.

Congratulations to Thanya and her intrepid research team and supporters!

Thursday, January 26, 2012
4 pm – 6 pm
Liu Institute for Global Issues, UBC
6476 NW Marine Drive
Vancouver, BC

Following the viewing of Canada’s first documentary film about illegal drugs, trafficking and addiction (Drug Addict, 1948), a 34-minute “realist” voice over documentary created as an educational tool for law agents and professionals, Dr. Susan Boyd will discuss the film and international and national and perspectives on drug policy. Documentary films such as Drug Addict are worthy of investigation because they provide insight into early foundational discourses about illegal drugs, addiction, treatment and law enforcement that still resonate today.

Susan Boyd, PhD, is Professor in Studies in Policy, University of Victoria and CGSM co-investigator. She is a drug policy researcher, community activist, and author of Hooked: Drug War Films from Britain, Canada, and the U.S.; From Witches to Crack Moms: Women, Drug Law, and Policy; Mothers and Illicit drugs, and co-author of Raise Shit! Social Action Saving Lives.

“The FREDA Centre for Research on Violence Against Women and Children (School of Criminology, Simon Fraser University), in partnership with the Alliance of Canadian Research Centres on Violence, the Canadian Observatory on the Justice System’s Response to Intimate Partner Violence, the Ending Violence Association of British Columbia, and our National and Regional Advisory Committees invites you to submit presentation proposals for our National Research Day 2012, November 7-9, in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Conference Theme:

Sexual violence, domestic violence: Exploring the continuum of violence against women and girls

The conference will bring together community-based anti-violence organizations and service providers; social workers, health care providers, and criminal justice personnel; women in all their diversity who have lived experiences of violence; government and policy makers; and academic and community-based researchers to explore the continuum of violence against women and girls.

Please see attached Call for Presentations (English and French) or visit our website for further information and submission instructions: http://fredacentre.com/events

Proposal Submission Deadline: April 30, 2012″

• When: Thursday December 15th, 2011, 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm
• Where: Room 2270 Simon Fraser University Downtown, Harbour Centre Campus, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver
• RSVP: Email to intersectionality.institute@gmail.com

Dr. Ange-Marie Hancock is Associate Professor of Political Science and Gender Studies at the University of Southern California.  She is the author of the award-winning book, The Politics of Disgust: The Public Identity of the Welfare Queen.  Dr. Hancock is a globally recognized scholar of the study of intersectionality.  Her new book, Solidarity Politics for Millennials: A Guide to Ending the Oppression Olympics, focuses on the development of intersectional solidarity as a method of political engagement for individuals, groups and policy practitioners in U.S. politics. Read more…

The colloquium is on Friday, November 25th 2011, 1:30pm to 3:30pm at SFU Harbour Centre, 515 W Hastings, Room 2925. Please RSVP by November 21st to bja11@sfu.ca. Read more…

Panel presenters:
Chair: Donald MacPherson, Director of Canadian Drug Policy Coalition
Panel: Dave Murray, founder of NPA; Dianne Tobin, Vice-President of VANDU and member of NPA BC Association of People on Methadone; Susan Boyd, Professor, University of Victoria, drug policy researcher and CGSM co-investigator

In January 2011, Dave Murray organized a group of participants from the NAOMI heroin assisted treatment research study in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. The NAOMI Patients Association (NPA) meets every Saturday at Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU). Shortly after NPA began to meet, they decided to work towards conducting their own research about their experiences as NAOMI research subjects. They were particularly interested in recording their experiences during and following NAOMI and making recommendations for future heroin and drug substitution research experiments and programs. Being the only contemporary “research participants” in North America to receive heroin maintenance, they believe that they have unique knowledge about the NAOMI project and its impact on their lives. Their recommendations for future projects and programs are drawn from their lived experiences. The panel presentation draws from their focus groups and NPA meetings.