abstract This article describes early analysis from the Achieving Gender Justice in Education project, involving 20 open-ended ‘storytelling’ interviews as an approach to narrative inquiry with educators and administrators from three Canadian provinces. Participants describe various forms of gender-based violence and discrimination experienced in schools, including inappropriate touching, sexual harassment, unwillingness to enhance school safety for girls and 2SLGBTQ+ students, and blocking of such initiatives by community members. They also convey substantive efforts to fight for the rights of girls and 2SLGBTQ+ students and support boys to embody positive interpretations of masculinity. This paper analyzes the experiences and considers how the stories might inform the practical application of gender justice and transformation in schools. Gender transformation is a term used primarily in international development, building on a premise that problematically suggests that Global South societies need transformation whereas Global North societies are transformed. This research highlights that, while it is important to attend to the context of violence, the call for gender transformation should extend to all countries and societies, not only those in the Global South.

abstract This paper examined the experiences of three women school principals who have been denied the act of leadership while at the helm of leadership in their schools. Owing to patriarchal barriers and contextual inequities, women in school leadership continue to experience bias, discrimination, and prejudice in their respective institutions. Underpinned by the qualitative interpretive paradigm and using a phenomenological multiple case study as a research design, we used semi-structured interviews to generate data from three women school principals who were purposively selected. The participants were purposively selected based on gender and position, and their schools were located in one education district in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. We used thematic analysis to analyse data, and the findings revealed that entrenched patriarchal norms, institutional gatekeeping, and conflicting gender expectations undermined the leadership authority of women principals, often reducing their roles to symbolic positions. Participants faced a leadership paradox, expected to be both nurturing and assertive, yet penalised for either. Despite these challenges, the women actively resisted structural barriers through solidarity, mentorship, and professional networks, which served as strategic tools of resilience. The study recommends structured mentorship programmes, gender-sensitive leadership training, participatory community dialogues, and institutional accountability mechanisms such as gender inclusive recruitment practices to create more equitable leadership environments for women.

abstract Through the story of Carmen, a young woman from Wentworth, South Africa, we explore the limits and possibilities of gender-transformation work in contexts shaped by systemic violence. Wentworth is a community marked by apartheid spatial legacies, intergenerational trauma, and the constant threat of gangsterism. In early 2025, Carmen arrived at the transnational TRANSFORM Youth Summit alone—despite having prepared alongside a group of her peers using photovoice methods. The other young people from her community did not come. Fear of kidnapping, territorial violence, and gang surveillance kept them home. Through Carmen’s story, we consider how gender issues can be displaced or silenced in times of crisis, and how absence itself can be understood as a form of visual evidence. Drawing on feminist and affect theory, including Lauren Berlant’s concept of the impasse, Haraway's entreaty to stay with the trouble, and Pumla Gqola’s framing of refusal in the context of pervasive gendered violence, I argue for a more nuanced understanding of gender-transformation that accounts for the limits of participation under structural violence, and honours the subtle, complicated ways that youth continue to resist, witness, and make meaning. Ultimately, I call for an expanded praxis that sees youth not only as change-makers, but also as survivors negotiating the layered violence of their environments.

abstract This paper examines what sustains the persistent cases of female genital mutilation (FGM), regardless of its illegality in Kassena-Nankana West and Pusiga districts in the Upper East Region of Ghana. In particular, it assesses the efficacy of national anti-FGM policy intervention. Based on perspectives from the local people, data was collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews (IDIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) from two districts with a sample size of 40 participants. An interpretive phenomenological approach is utilised for data analysis. This qualitative case study reveals that legislative measures, in conjunction with a health education approach, demonstrate only moderate effectiveness in eliminating FGM. The limited success can be attributed to neo-liberalism and the capitalist patriarchal system, which create a condition that restrains women's capacity to stand against FGM, something that conventional cultural norms or political stance theories cannot adequately explain. These findings suggest that public perceptions are gradually shifting in response to interventions in health education policy. However, marginalisation and low socio-economic status hinder the uptake and comprehension of ‘rights’ and medical knowledge, thereby suppressing females’ autonomy and motivation to abandon FGM.

This article explores the “how” of gender transformation under conditions of increasing inequality and insecurity in the Canadian province of Ontario. The point of entry for our exploration is the increase in gendered survival work associated with acute poverty and homelessness – both of which are rapidly increasing alongside stagnating national progress towards gender equality in Canada as indicated by the 2024 Sustainable Development Goals Gender Index. To produce our analysis, we drew on qualitative interview data from 18 women and gender-diverse people experiencing homelessness. Data was drawn from a larger sample of 49 people experiencing homelessness in Peterborough. Our findings illuminate critical dimensions of Canada’s stagnating progress towards gender equality. We explicate how the intensification of women and gender-diverse people’s work is organized by institutional responses to material and relational precarity across the life-course; the provision of homelessness services organized by the gender-binary; and the normalization of gender-based violence, and gendered experiences of (un)safety for women and gender-diverse people experiencing homelessness.

abstract Women’s incarceration is rising around the world; yet insufficient research on women’s distinctive experiences behind bars remains a barrier to effective advocacy and policy reform. This article examines how participatory visual methodologies (PVMs) can support incarcerated women in sharing their stories and addressing gender discrimination in the criminal legal system. I consider the extent to which PVMs can serve as Gender Transformative Methodologies in carceral settings: methods that identify gender inequities and develop strategies for change. To do so, I share the design, implementation, and impact of my participatory visual research in a South African women’s correctional facility. The research adopted a four-week workshop protocol to investigate the challenges women face in their communities, South African correctional centers, and their visions for social and policy change. I present examples of artwork from three workshop cohorts and highlight the participants’ creative and critical insights. I detail how their work was shared with institutional authorities, civil society, and policymakers during art exhibitions. The article concludes with a discussion of the strengths and limitations of PVMs for facilitating gender transformation in the criminal legal system and other restrictive contexts.

abstract Launched in 2017, Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) aims to champion gender equality in development cooperation and programming. Proposals submitted to Global Affairs Canada for funding are rigorously assessed according to gender equality criteria, and applicants are required to conduct gender-based analyses and consult local women's groups. Global Affairs Canada has also prioritized 95% of their funding for projects that adequately integrate and target gender equality. While the FIAP policy has good intentions, it inadequately conceptualises gender equality and intersectionality, and contains Western-centric, neo-liberal, and instrumental notions of feminism and development. An understanding of how development organisations and their local partner organisations in the global South navigate, operationalise, and transform the FIAP is also lacking. This article argues that Canadian development organisations and their local partners in the global South have a crucial role to play in improving the FIAP's efficacy by sharing their experiences, successes, and challenges with Global Affairs Canada. Global Affairs Canada, for its part, must be open and receptive to these critiques, feeding organisations’ suggestions into future iterations of the FIAP. A robust feedback loop is needed to truly decolonise Canadian foreign assistance. This necessitates Canadian organisations and their local partners to proactively advocate for creating channels that enable them to share their experiences and insights with Global Affairs Canada. This feedback should aim at not only providing criticism of the FIAP, but also amplifying promising approaches. For instance, some organisations have developed complex and localised understandings of gender and intersectionality, using decolonised and participatory approaches, and have built strong partnerships with local partners and local gender activists. These organisations can and should be allowed to positively influence future policies and practices with donors, policymakers, and practitioners.

abstract This paper explores the intersection of food insecurity and gender-based violence (GBV) in Cape Town, South Africa, through a four-year participatory action research project with women operating community kitchens in low-income areas and informal settlements. It identifies a significant statistical correlation between food insecurity and GBV, highlighting the compounded vulnerabilities experienced by women in marginalised communities. The study presents findings from a feminist initiative that supported women running community kitchens to take on roles as GBV First Responders—transforming these kitchens from mere food distribution points into hubs of safety, solidarity, and political agency. Drawing on Silvia Federici’s concept of the urban food commons and feminist critiques of reproductive labour, the paper explores how communal food practices can resist both hunger and violence as intertwined forms of structural oppression. Using a mixed-methods approach, we combine statistical data on food insecurity and GBV with qualitative insights from a participatory research process. The findings demonstrate that women who have experienced GBV are three times more likely to be food insecure, and that hunger functions as a gendered mechanism of control within unequal food systems. This paper critiques the reliance on charity-based food relief and advocates for systemic change led by grassroots actors. We contribute to feminist debates on structural violence and care by showing how everyday acts of commoning in marginalised urban contexts can offer pathways toward healing, social justice, and food security.

abstract Transgender people in Ukraine face a lack of attention to their rights from both society and the law. To uphold the values of the rule of law, which ensures equality and dignity of all citizens, and to ensure compliance with international human rights standards, it is necessary to analyse the legal protection of their labour rights. The following methods were used in the study: dialectical technique, formal logical and systemic methodologies, formal logic, systemic technique, formal legal approach, comparative legal technique, and modelling method. The purpose of the study is to examine the current state of legislation and employment practices for transgender people to develop recommendations for improving the protection of their labour rights and supporting inclusiveness and equality in the workplace.