EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT

DATE: Oct. 4-6, 2012

EVENT: The University of Michigan Institute for Research on Women and Gender will host a conference on “Sex and Justice” that will examine and critique ongoing domestic and international efforts to criminalize and punish sex.

Activists, legal experts and scholars from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Cameroon who argue for policy reform on a diverse array of issues will gather for the first time during this three-day meeting.

“Hundreds of thousands of people around the world have been locked up, beaten or killed for having sex,” said conference organizer Trevor Hoppe. “These issues haven’t yet received the attention they deserve. Victims and their advocates have been bullied into silence for too long, fearing for our jobs and, in some cases, our lives. This conference will shatter that silence.”

Among the issues that will be discussed is the increasing use of criminal law both in the U.S and internationally to punish HIV-positive people. In 34 states it is a crime for people with HIV to have sex without disclosing their infection, whether or not they put their partners at risk.

The increasing use of public sex offender registries, which have grown to include more than 750,000 Americans in recent years, and international efforts to punish sex also will be highlighted.

Cameroonian Alice N’Kom will discuss her efforts to fight charges brought against men in her country who are accused of being homosexual, including a recent case in which a gay man was convicted for sending text messages to an acquaintance.

PLACE: All events will take place on the fourth floor of the Rackham Graduate School, 915 E. Washington St. Campus map: http://campusinfo.umich.edu/article/central-campus-map

SPONSOR: Institute for Research on Women and Gender

INFORMATION: For a list of speakers and details on how to register for free online, visit http://www.sexandjustice2012.com.

CONTACT: Trevor Hoppe, (704) 957-4910, [email protected]