Please join the Centre for Human Rights Research (CHRR) as we host Dr. Lindsay Larios, University of Manitoba, for a seminar titled “Migrant Reproductive Justice: Perinatal and abortion care with precarious immigration status” on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, at 2:30 pm in 108 St. John’s College.

Dr. Lindsay Larios is an interdisciplinary critical policy researcher and assistant professor of social work at the University of Manitoba. She studies citizenship and immigration in the Canadian context, in particular, as it intersects with family and reproductive politics and policies. Her most recent work focuses on the politics of pregnancy and childbirth and precarious migration as an issue of reproductive justice.  

This seminar is a part of our annual Critical Conversations seminar series. This year, the seminar series will focus on the CHRR’s research theme Reproductive and Bodily Justice and will explore histories of the body, reproduction, and care in Canada and beyond.

Resources

Watch a recording of Dr. Larios’ lecture.

In honour of International Women’s Day, the Centre for Human Rights Research (CHRR) is holding an event titled “Politics.PERIOD.” on menstrual equity and justice on Friday, March 8. Later in the day, students are invited for coffee and chat with Dr. Lisa Smith (Douglas College) at 2 pm in 409 Tier Building. This informal gathering is open to all and will be of interest to students and faculty involved in reproductive justice, menstrual justice, and community-engaged sociology.

Students and those interested about migrant worker’s rights and organizing are encouraged to attend a casual coffee and chat with Mostafa Henaway on Wednesday, March 13 at 10:30 am in 108 St. John’s College. Coffee and snacks will be available.

Henaway, a Canadian-born Egyptian, is a long-time community organizer at the Immigrant Workers Centre in Montreal, where he has been organizing for justice for immigrant/migrant workers for over two decades. He is also a researcher and PhD candidate at Concordia University. In his new book, Essential Work, Disposable Workers: Migration, Capitalism and Class, he examines “the massive expansion of precarious work under neoliberalism and how migrant workers are challenging the conditions of their hyper-exploitation through struggles for worker rights and justice.” 

For more information, contact the CHRR at chrrman@umanitoba.ca.

Students and those interested in migrant activism, immigration, feminism and critical race theory, and social movements are invited to attend a casual Coffee and Chat with Ethel Tungohan, PhD, on Tuesday, March 19th at 1:00pm CST in 111 St. John’s College. Light refreshments will be available.

Ethel Tungohan is a Canada Research Chair in Canadian Migration Policy, Impacts and Activism and an Associate Professor of Politics at York University in Toronto, Canada. Her book, “Care Activism: Migrant Domestic Workers, Communities of Care, and Movement Building,” won the National Women’s Studies Association First Book Prize. Her research looks at social movements, immigration policy, social and public policy, and Canadian and comparative politics.

For more information, contact the CHRR at chrrman@umanitoba.ca. 

With Ethel Tungohan, PhD, in conversation with Diwa Marcelino, Migrante Manitoba

In collaboration with the Global College – University of Winnipeg, please join the Centre for Human Rights Research (CHRR) at the University of Manitoba as we host Dr. Ethel Tungohan (York University) for a seminar titled Care Activism in Canada: Migrant Domestic Workers, Dissident Friendships and Decolonial Care on Tuesday, March 19, 2024, at 2:30 pm in 108 St. John’s College, University of Manitoba – Fort Garry Campus. Dr. Tungohan will be joined by and will be in conversation with Migrante Manitoba representative and community organizer Diwa Marcelino.

Ethel Tungohan is a Canada Research Chair in Canadian Migration Policy, Impacts and Activism and an Associate Professor of Politics at York University in Toronto, Canada. Her book, “Care Activism: Migrant Domestic Workers, Communities of Care, and Movement Building,”, won the National Women’s Studies Association First Book Prize. Her research looks at social movements, immigration policy, social and public policy, and Canadian and comparative politics.

Diwa Marcelino is a community organizer with Migrante Manitoba, a grassroots organization advancing the rights and welfare of overseas Filipinos within the framework of peoples’ struggle for democracy, justice & peace in the Philippines. Migrante Manitoba is a founding member of Health Care for All Manitoba, an alliance advocating for expanded public health care coverage to include all residents of Manitoba regardless of status. During the Freedom Convoy occupations in 2022, he became the national project manager for the Community Solidarity Project, a civil society response to rise of the politics of division and hate. He is also a founding member of Community Solidarity Manitoba. He is also the vice-chairperson of the Council of Canadians, a grassroots organization challenging corporate power and advocating for people, the planet and our democracy. He is also a steering committee member of KAIROS, an ecumenical organization promoting ecological justice and human rights. 

This seminar is a part of our annual Critical Conversations seminar series. This year, the seminar series will focus on the CHRR’s research theme Reproductive and Bodily Justice and will explore histories of the body, reproduction, and care in Canada and beyond.

Resources

Watch a recording of Dr. Tungohan and Diwa Marcelino in conversation.

The Centre for Human Rights Research (CHRR) hosted a seminar titled “The crying need for Indian foster homes”: Indigenous Women Challenge State Child Welfare Practices with Dr. Sarah Nickel (UAlberta) on Tuesday, March 12, 2024, at 2:30 pm in 543-544 UMSU University Centre.

Sarah Nickel is Tk’emlúpsemc, French Canadian, and Ukrainian, and an associate professor of History at the University of Alberta. Her work focuses on twentieth century Indigenous politics and the gendered nature of political work drawing on community- engaged methodologies. Her first book, Assembling Unity: Indigenous Politics, Gender, and the Union of BC Indian Chiefs was published in 2019 with UBC Press and won the Canadian Historical Association’s prize for Best Book in Indigenous History in 2020. Sarah’s second monograph, Active Women: Indigenous Women’s Social and Political Work in Kanata’s West will be published with the University of Toronto Press in late 2024.

This seminar is a part of our annual Critical Conversations seminar series. This year, the seminar series will focus on the CHRR’s research theme Reproductive and Bodily Justice and will explore histories of the body, reproduction, and care in Canada and beyond.

Resources

Watch a recording of Dr. Nickel’s lecture.

Listen to a podcast with Dr. Tungohan as part of UMFM’s Turning Pages Series.

On Tuesday, February 6th, the Centre for Human Rights Research and the Margaret Laurence Endowment Fund was honoured to host a seminar entitled Bridging the disconnect between the criminal legal system and the reproductive justice movement with Dr. Martha Paynter.

Dr. Martha Paynter is Director of Nursing Research with the Contraception and Abortion Research Team (CART)-UBC and Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of New Brunswick, where her clinical teaching and research focus on the intersection of reproductive health and the criminal justice system. She is the Affiliate Scientist for the ROSE Clinic (Reproductive Options and Services), and the founder, director of research, and past chair of Wellness Within: An Organization for Health and Justice, the only organization in Canada dedicated to advancing reproductive justice for people experiencing criminalization. She is the author of Abortion to Abolition: Reproductive Health and Justice in Canada, which was published in Spring 2022 by Fernwood Publishing.

This seminar is a part of CHRR’s Critical Conversations seminar series. This year, the seminar series will focus on the CHRR’s research theme Reproductive and Bodily Justice and will explore histories of the body, reproduction, and care in Canada and beyond.

Resources

Listen to a podcast with Dr. Martha Paynter, as part of the Human Rights Hub “Humans, On Rights” series.

The Department of Anthropology and the Centre for Human Rights Research hosted a lecture with Dr. Sai Kyi Zin Soe on May 30. 2024 at the University of Manitoba.

Dr. Soe’s presentation explores the challenges faced by Burmese refugees in Thailand, who navigate the precarious circumstances of displacement and legal ambiguity. Drawing on social science research, it examines the drivers of forced migration from Myanmar, including the intensified civil war, persecution of ethnic minorities, and economic hardship. In Thailand, these refugees are officially classified as “illegal migrants,” leaving them in a state of limbo without access to essential services and vulnerable to arrest and deportation. Simultaneously, Burmese nationals face pressure to conform to their communities’ expectations regarding political activism and in-country revolution. The presentation emphasizes the importance of understanding these complex realities through a social science lens to inform holistic, rights -based approaches to development policy and practice. By advocating for legal recognition, refugee empowerment, and research-informed strategies, this presentation highlights the transformative potential of social science in shaping policies that bridge the gap between displacement and belonging, positioning refugees as agents of change.

Dr. Sai Kyi Zin Soe is a Research Affiliate at the Centre for Disability Research and Policy, Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney. Currently, he serves as a Senior Consultant at the Foundation for Education and Development (FED), dedicated to assisting Myanmar migrants in Thailand. Additionally, he provides support to the Karenni State Interim Parliament (KSIP) in the capacity of a Technical Advisor. 

Dr. Soe earned his PhD from the University of Sydney, completing his thesis in 2019 on “Influence of Donor Aid Policy on Disability Inclusion in Myanmar.” This underscores his commitment to promoting inclusive practices within development sectors. He was the recipient of the Australia Awards Scholarship in 2014 and the Australia Leadership Award in 2014 and 2015. 

His areas of expertise encompass disability and social inclusion, human rights and minority rights, local governance, and federalism. Following the 2021 military coup in Myanmar, he actively contributes political analysis and commentary to media platforms, advocating for human rights, inclusion, and federalism. 

Resources

Watch a recording of Dr. Soe’s lecture.

A Panel on Menstrual Equity & Justice in Honour of International Women’s Day

The Centre for Human Rights Research alongside the University of Manitoba Women’s Centre were thrilled to host an event in honour of International Women’s Day.

Politics. PERIOD. included tabling from student groups and community organizations including:

• KLINIC
• Sexuality Education Resource Centre (SERC)
• West Central Women’s Resource Centre
• Rainbow Pride Centre
• Campus Bookstore
• Queer & Trans Graduate Student Group
• Healthy U.

Dr. Jen Gunter opened the event, sharing a few words from her new book “Blood: The Science, Medicine, and Mythology of Menstruation,” followed by a panel discussion entitled Politics.PERIOD. Panelists included:

• Christine Cyr, Associate Vice-President (Indigenous) – Students, Community and Cultural Integration, University of Manitoba 
• Jelynn Dela Cruz, MLA Radisson
• Victoria Romero, Research Assistant “Period Poverty and Equity, On Campus and Beyond” 
• Dr. Lisa Smith, Coordinator of the Menstrual Cycle Research Group at Douglas College.

We were thrilled to collaborate with the Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Architecture. This event was made possible by funding, in part, from the University of Manitoba Strategic Initiatives Support Fund.

The event was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and partners including the Centre for Human Rights Research, Decolonizing Water, HWISE-RCN, Program on Water Governance, Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth, and Resources.