[Commlist] CfP Women's Communication Rights in the Digital Era (ECREA GS&C x ICNOVA)

CfP: Women's Communication Rights in the Digital Era

We would like to invite you to submit a proposal for the off event of 
the ECREA Gender, Sexuality and Communication Section organised in 
collaboration with ICNOVA – NOVA Institute of Communication.

- Thursday 18th & Friday 19th September 2025

- Lisbon, Portugal

- Deadline for submissions: 31st January 2025

In 2025, we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for 
Action (BPfA), an international policy framework adopted at the Fourth 
UN World Conference on Women in 1995, which established global 
objectives for advancing gender equality. Section J deals with gender 
equality in the media and calls for the participation of women in media 
roles and a balanced, non-stereotypical portrayal of women. It took 
decades of feminist activism to include Section J in the Platform. These 
initiatives led to the launch of the Global Media Monitoring Project, a 
comprehensive analysis of the portrayal of women in the news in 
different countries.

Despite this foundation, gender and intersectional inequalities still 
exist. The media landscape of the last 30 years has seen a concentration 
of ownership, a decline in budgets for journalism, the rise of large 
tech companies and a challenging regulatory environment — all of which 
emphasise the need for initiatives on gender and intersectionality in 
the media. Although Section J advocates for women’s participation, 
stereotypical representations are still prevalent and women are often 
excluded from media decision-making processes. Gender-based violence 
online has increased as digital platforms have failed to effectively 
combat misogyny and protect women’s digital rights. This has added new 
forms of abuse, especially for those belonging to different minority 
groups and facing other forms of discrimination such as ableism, racism, 
lgtbqphobia, aporophobia, classism or ageism.

At a time when rights are under threat, it is necessary to continue to 
develop strategies for action and exchange ideas on methods to support 
demands for a fairer media environment. This conference aims to foster a 
dialogue on changes, challenges and future directions in realising 
gender and intersectional equality in the media.

*Format*

We invite scholars, policymakers, journalists, media professionals and 
activists to submit a contribution on topics such as feminist media 
policy, digital harassment, intersectional discrimination, media 
representation and the role of feminist movements in shaping media 
policy or other topics mentioned below. Contributions dealing with 
intersectional and comparative approaches to media and gender issues are 
particularly welcome. Presentations can be inspired by research, 
creative, media, activist, and interdisciplinary practices and will be 
arranged in thematic sessions by the organising team.

Potential topics could include (but are not limited to):

- The role of feminist movements in media and gender policy-making

- Gender and media regulation

- Online gendered harassment and abuse

- Gender and intersectional issues in media production

- Manifestations of misogyny in digital and popular media

- Gendered implications of AI / automated technologies and algorithmic 
communications

- Intersections of sexism, ableism, racism, lgtbqphobia, ageism, 
classism and other forms of oppression

- Shortcomings and possibilities of the Beijing Platform for Action

- Pervasiveness of (neo)colonial framings in the global representation 
of women

- The role of affect, emotion, and authenticity within gender and 
communication

- Disinformation, misinformation, malinformation and threats to gender 
and intersectional equality

- Far-right communication, social media and women’s rights

- Alternative feminist media practices

- Possibilities for building solidarity in and through the media, 
especially within the Global South and the Global North

- Specific policy issues such as privacy, surveillance, issues of data 
justice and others

- Feminist utopias in media production and representation.

*Submission*

https://easychair.org/cfp/WomComRights25

Please submit your proposal by 31st January 2025, 23:59 (CET) 
highlighting how your work relates to the conference topic, methods 
used, and perspectives you would like to bring to the discussion. 
Abstracts should be no longer than 300 words.

*Registration*

The cost of (in-person) attendance is 100 euros for salaried academics 
and other professionals, and 50 euros for students and unwaged 
participants. Requests for fee exemption will be handled case-by-case by 
the organising committee. This covers conference registration and coffee 
breaks. Booking for the conference dinner will be available once 
registration is opened.

*Organisation*

This conference is co-organised by ICNOVA (Lisbon) and ECREA’s Gender, 
Sexuality and Communication Section with the support of the Digital 
Culture and Communication Section. The conference is partially supported 
by National Funds through FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology 
under Project refª: UIDB/05021/2020. Hosted and sponsored by ICNOVA 
(Universidade NOVA de Lisboa).

For questions, please email us at (WomComRights25 /at/ fcsh.unl.pt)

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