You are invited to submit a proposal to present at the 4th World Conference of Women’s Shelters (4WCWS), which will be held under the theme “Shelters at the Forefront of Ending Violence against Women” on November 5-8, 2019 at the Kaohsiung Exhibition Center, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. This Conference is a joint effort of the Garden of Hope Foundation (GOH) and the Global Network of Women’s Shelters (GNWS).
The World Conference of Women’s Shelters is the largest and most diverse global gathering on the protection and prevention of violence against women. 4WCWS will provide a global-scale platform for participants working on the sharp-end of the issue, to discuss strengthening the role of shelters in systematic approaches, raise awareness among different sectors and kick-start global initiatives to support women shelters, increase prevention work and end violence against women.
Workshops and mini-seminars will take place concurrently after each of the five plenary sessions on:
Theme 1: Art and Advocacy
From the Vagina Monologues to the #MeToo campaign, the arts and culture industry is a key player in changing public opinion on violence against women. This session will discuss using the arts to stop gender-based violence.
Theme 2: New Methods in Shelter Management and Social Work
This session will challenge participants to think out of the box about protecting survivors by looking at innovative systems, integration of resources, and services that meet the diverse needs of survivors.
Theme 3: Policy and Legislation
This session will critically examine international standards and goals, explore innovative strategies to improve accountability and coordination and identify laws and policies that help protect victims and end abuse.
Theme 4: Equality and Economic Empowerment
This session will look at ways to increase the productive earning power of women and develop inclusive communities, reduce poverty and violence, and empower women and girls.
Theme 5: Emerging Issues
This session will be an open space for discussion on new and emerging issues such as data collection, privacy, LGBTQ shelter management, institutional abuse, and more.
Breakout workshops and seminars at 4WCWS will provide multiple platforms for exchanges of ideas. Workshop organizers and seminar presenters will develop the issues raised in the plenaries, introduce new practices and developments, highlight case studies and practical solutions to local problems, facilitate imaginative brainstorming on innovative ideas, and engage in deeper discussions with other attendees.
Applicants have the option of applying to facilitate a 90-minute or 180-minute workshop or giving a short presentation with other speakers in a mini-seminar facilitated by an independent moderator. To avoid topic-overlap and to promote networking, we encourage workshop presenters to be open to the idea of allowing us to combine your session with another facilitator.
The official conference language is English. The plenary sessions will have simultaneous translation in Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Spanish. In the breakout sessions you can present a workshop or paper in any language, but please note there will be no translation service. For non-English applicants, please provide your own translation or feel free to apply to give a workshop in your language of choice - though this may limit your audience.
Advocates, service providers, government representatives, funders, corporate partners, researchers and academics, students, artists, and other stakeholders are invited to submit your proposals for workshops and seminars to 4WCWS to have informed discussions on innovative solutions to the epidemic of violence against women before submission deadline by January 7, 2019.
To submit your proposal, please follow two simple steps:
1. Sign Up