Call for Workshop Proposals

Call for Workshop Proposals

Please take note of the extended deadline of January 27, 2023. 

Theme

“We Are Born from Her: Protecting Earth Mother, Her Women, and Her Children”

Description

The 2023 Women Are Sacred Conference is guided by the theme We are Born from Her: Protecting Earth Mother, Her Women, and Her Children. This speaks to our Indigenous understanding of the sacredness, strength, and power of the feminine spirit that flows through Earth Mother, women, and children.  It is also a call out to name, acknowledge and act on the reality that violence against the Earth, as witnessed by climate change, violence against women, as witnessed by horrific violence against women and children is interconnected.  It’s about relationships. Violence requires the breaking of relationships and denial of spirit. Protecting Earth Mother, women, and children requires rebuilding, nurturing, and honoring our relationships. Reclaiming and uplifting the feminine spirit is at the heart of the survival of women, as Indigenous People, and our four-legged, rooted, winged, and water relatives. 

The Women Are Sacred Conference represents the strength and resilience of our people and the tools and knowledge we have to make positive change. This conference is an opportunity to gather and build relationships, mourn our losses together, and also celebrate and honor the resilience, power, and spirit of the feminine, together. This is an opportunity to take action, to bring to life our shared vision for the future to end the violence and recreate peaceful, respectful relationships.

(Any part of this description may be subject to change.)

Topic Areas

Proposals should address topic areas in any of the three categories: practice, policy, and research.  We welcome topics that address:

  • Culturally-based practices that center on ending violence against Indigenous women;

  • Ending violence against two-spirit/LGBTQ+ relatives;

  • Accountability strategies to hold batterers/rapists accountable;

  • Development of culturally based batterers' re-education programs;

  • Strategies to address or respond to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, sex trafficking, and murdered and missing Indigenous women, girls, and relatives;

  • Intersections of domestic violence, mental health, and substance use;

  • Child welfare and domestic violence challenges and practices;

  • Housing and shelter development;

  • Culturally based trauma and resilience-informed approaches;

  • Economic empowerment, public benefits, and domestic violence collaborations;

  • Incorporating Indigenous solutions or practices in addressing domestic violence;

  • Identification of key issues and how they are being addressed across our nations, villages, and communities (coordinated community response);

  • Research practices;

  • Program evaluation; and

  • Policy development.
     

Selection Criteria for Workshops

  • Cultural and practical relevance to Tribal Nations, Alaska Native villages, Indigenous communities, and Tribal domestic violence programs and shelters.

  • Compliments conference theme and description.

  • Presenters' expertise in working with Native American communities.

  • Encourages interdisciplinary coordination and cooperation.

  • Highlights Indigenous practices.

  • Introduces innovative strategies.

  • Supports, honors, and demonstrates a clear connection to victims/survivors of domestic violence.

  • Meets 90-minute workshop time frame.
     

Deadline

All proposals must be submitted by *January 27, 2023 at 11:59 PM (MDT).

Contact

All questions may be sent to Brenda Hill (bhill@niwrc.org) or Kim Zahne (kzahne@niwrc.org).

Submit Workshop Proposal