The Alexa McDonough Institute (AMI) for Women, Gender and Social Justice at Mount Saint Vincent University is launching a powerful new lecture series on gender-based violence (GBV) in politics, as part of AMI’s ongoing commitment to gender and social justice. All are welcome.
This series is designed to increase awareness, offer educational resources from leading experts in the field (including those with lived experience), mobilize knowledge to shape future research project priorities, and facilitate meaningful conversations about social change in communities.
The first lecture in the series, Power and Resistance: Confronting Gender-based Violence in Canadian Politics in the #MeToo Era, will take place on Wednesday, September 24, 2025, from 12-1 p.m. in the Seton Academic Centre, rooms 407/409, and will feature Dr. Tracey Raney. The session will be moderated by MSVU’s Dr. Meredith Ralston, Professor, Department of Women’s Studies and Political Studies.
Dr. Raney is a Professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU). Her award-winning research on gender and politics has been published in numerous academic outlets and includes a co-edited volume, Gender-based Violence in Canadian Politics in the #MeToo Era, published by the University of Toronto Press in 2024. In 2018, she co-founded Women in the House, a program which aims to develop the leadership skills of students who identify as women or gender-diverse at TMU.
Continuing throughout the year, the series will feature cross-sectoral perspectives and positions on the topic of GBV towards women and gender diverse people in politics.
The next event, on December 5 at 12 p.m., will mark the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women with a community-research collaboration presentation by Sue Bookchin and Stacey Godsoe from Be the Peace Institute and Sarah Rodimon, Executive Director of the Avalon Sexual Assault Centre. This conversation, moderated by Dr. Tammy Findlay, will focus on the impact, challenges, and goals of their Working Group: Violence & Harassment in Politics. The series will conclude with a conference in May organized by Dr. Mary Rita Holland, Nancy’s Chair in Women’s Studies, in collaboration with the Alexa McDonough Institute and Be the Peace Institute.