The Istanbul Convention Thought Intersectionally

Since 2011, the Istanbul Convention (IC) has been internationally recognised as the most far-reaching legally binding human rights instrument to prevent and combat gender-based and domestic violence. It obliges signatory states to take concrete action and also to interpret and recognise grounds for asylum from the 1951 Refugee Convention in a gender-sensitive way.
The conference on 6 September 2022 places the issues of intersectionality, multiple discrimination and flight in the context of the Istanbul Convention.

At the beginning, institutions from politics and administration will meet with various NGOs to discuss the intersectional interpretation of the Istanbul Convention with a focus on queer women with a refugee background. In a second part, non-governmental organisations, LBTQI people with a refugee and migration background as well as experts from academia will discuss possible practical approaches in workshops and panels.

Agenda:

10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. (in person and digital)

Opening Remarks

• Dr. Ines Kappert, Director of the Gunda-Werner-Institute

Keynote
The Instanbul Convention: Intersectionality and its Meaning for Queer Women with a History of Flight

• Dr. Marie-Luise Löffler, Women's and Equal Opportunities Officer City of Heidelberg, Office for Equal Opportunities
• Dr. Mengia Tschalär, Co-Director Queer European Asylum Network

Panel discussion
The Istanbul Convention Thought Intersectionally

Moderation:

• Monika Remé, German Women's Council

Panelists:

• Dr. Delal Atmaca, DaMigra
• Prof. Dr. Nivedita Prasad, ASH Berlin
• Julia Serdarov, LeTRa

12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Lunch

1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. (only in person)

We look at the Istanbul Convention (IC) under five aspects in five parallel workshops:

1. The applicability of IC to queer refugee women in the asylum process, focusing on their intersectional vulnerabilities as a particularly vulnerable group to gender-based violence.
   Dr. Mengia Tschalär (Queer European Asylum Network) & Anbid Zaman (Queer European Asylum Network)
    
2. The local implementation of IC in the work with queer people using the best practice example of the work of the Office for Equal Opportunities of the City of Heidelberg with the project Guide4You.
   Danijel Cubelic (Office for Equal Opportunities) & Dr. Marie-Luise Löffler (Women's and Equal Opportunities Officer, City of Heidelberg, Office for Equal Opportunities)
    
3. To outline the gender binary and the concept of gender in IC and discuss its limitations and possibilities in relation to queer people.
   Lilith Raza (Queer European Asylum Network) & TBC
    
4. The application practice of the Istanbul Convention of the Federal Republic of Germany in relation to women with a refugee and migration background will be discussed. This also takes into account the reservations to Article 59, which concerns the protection and rights of migrant women affected by domestic violence.
   Dr. Delal Atmaca (DaMigra)
    
5. Introduction to the concept of intersectionality and its applicability to legal practice in the context of flight, gender and sexuality.
   Prof. Dr. Nivedita Prasad (ASH Berlin) & Dr. Nina Held (Queer European Asylum Network)

3:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. coffee break

3:15 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.

Summary of the most important results

• Monika Remé, German Women's Council

Registration:

Participation is free of charge. Please register via the registration button for the entire conference and one workshop.

The event will be held in German. There will be simultaneous translation German-English and English-German for the morning programme, this will be streamed live as well. There will be whispered translations in the afternoon programme, this will only take place in person.

Note: The Opening Remarks, Keynote and the following panel discussion will be available as a livestream.

Organizer:
Gunda Werner Institute and Queer European Asylum Network

The Queer European Asylum Network (QUEAN) is an umbrella organization founded in 2019 that brings together NGO practitioners, LGBTQI+ refugees and activists and academics working on LGBTQI+ migration and asylum in Europe.
In November 2020, the network organized an event to recognize and prevent violence against LGBTIQ* asylum claimants and refugees  and, as a result, wrote a policy report that calls on all EU State Parties who have ratified and/or signed the IC to adequately protect lesbian, bi, queer, intersex and trans women from gender-based violence under the Convention.

Contact:
Dr. Ines Kappert
E kappert@boell.de