CfP: Sexual Violence, Medicine, and Psychiatry Conference, 16-17 April 2020, University of Newcastle (Australia)

‘Sexual Violence, Medicine, and Psychiatry’
An international, interdisciplinary symposium on the relationship between Medicine, Psychiatry, and Sexual Violence
16-17 April 2020
Centre for the Study of Violence |University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia


Dear colleagues,
The Sexual Harms and Medical Encounters Research Hub (SHaME) is pleased to share the CFP for its upcoming international, interdisciplinary symposium, ‘Sexual Violence, Medicine, and Psychiatry’, which will take place at the University of Newcastle (Australia) from 16-17 April 2020.

We invite proposals for 20-minute papers, as well as proposals for panel discussions, and other modes of presentation, on a range of topics exploring the role of medicine and psychiatry in understanding sexual violence. We welcome proposals from graduate researchers, and particularly encourage interdisciplinary, cross-cultural and international submissions.

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to:
  • The role of medicine and psychiatry in understanding, interpreting, facilitating, treating, prosecuting, and preventing sexual violence.
  • Medical jurisprudence and forensic medicine in relation to sexual violence.
  • The training of medical professionals in how to respond to men, women, and children reporting sexual assault.
  • The processes by which medical evidence is built into legal narratives for use by the prosecution or defence.
  • Psychiatric classifications of perpetrators of sexual violence.
  • The rise of psychiatric notions of rape trauma and their effects.
  • Psychiatric or medical approaches to the sexual assault of trans or queer people.
  • The role of medicine and psychiatry in anti-rape activism.
For papers and panel proposals, please submit an abstract of no more than 350 words, as well as a brief CV and 100-word biography.
For more details and the full CFP, please see our website – https://shame.bbk.ac.uk/events/sexual-violence-medicine-and-psychiatry-a-symposium/.
The deadline for abstract submission is Monday 25 November 2019.
Please direct submissions and any queries to Ms Rhea Sookdeosingh.