Events
This section includes details of seminars, conferences and other events where the research team has presented the SOGICA findings over the course of the project and after its formal end. If you would like to receive occasional updates about SOGICA and all our events, subscribe now to our SOGICA mailing list.
2024
- N. Ferreira, ‘Assessing credibility in SOGIESC asylum claims: European comparative findings’, 19 December 2024, NOVA Refugee & Migration Clinic (NRMC) Migration and Asylum Talks, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa
- N. Ferreira, ‘Unravelling the knot of credibility assessment in SOGIESC asylum’, Keynote at ‘Believe it or not’ Conference, Amsterdam
2023
- N. Ferreira, participation in follow-up meeting of the ‘2021 Global Roundtable on Protection and Solutions for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer (LGBTIQ+) Persons in Forced Displacement‘, organised by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the UN Independent Expert on Protection Against Violence and Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (UN IE SOGI) (by invitation), Geneva, Switzerland, 22 June 2023. Following up that meeting, the UNHCR published the document ‘Protecting LGBTIQ+ people in situations of forced displacement: A Stocktaking on UNHCR progress since the 2021 Roundtable‘.
2022
- N. Ferreira, ‘Queering Asylum in Europe: A short overview’, in ‘International protection and vulnerabilities’ conference, Nansen (Belgian UNHCR partner), Brussels, Belgium, 30 September 2022 [recording available here]
- N. Ferreira, ‘The invisibility of families in the context of international protection on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity’, at the ELaN final conference on ‘Access to Justice: A Gender Perspective’, Pisa, Italy, 23 September 2022
- M. Dustin, The personal is political: lesbian and bisexual women’s asylum in the UK, Social Change in a Feminist Perspective: Situating Gender Research in Times of Political Contention, 11th European Feminist Research Conference, University of Milano-Bicocca, 15-18 June 2022
- SOGICA, The SOGICA Exhibition, Sala Borsa (Spazio Scuderie), Bologna (Italy), 16 May-6 June 2022 (free entrance).
- C. Danisi, Richiedenti asilo alla prova dei loro “giudici”: persecuzione, credibilità e fair procedures tra diritto internazionale dei rifugiati e diritti umani, Giornata studi MEDius – Media, giustizia e sessualità, University of Trieste, Italy, 17 May 2022
- C. Danisi and N. Ferreira, Caffè con l’Autore – Queering Asylum in Europe, Forlì Campus — University of Bologna, 13 May 2022
- C. Danisi and N. Ferreira, ‘LGBTQ+ Refugees and Asylum Seekers: Knowledge Gaps and Data Needs’, virtual global roundtable organised by UCLA School of Law William Institute / The Promise Institute for Human Rights, USA, 25 February 2022
- N. Ferreira, oral evidence to ‘Equality and the UK asylum process‘ inquiry, Women and Equalities Committee, 23 February 2022 [report with references to SOGICA contribution and oral evidence available here]
2021
- SOGICA book launch, SCHRR- sponsored event, University of Sussex, 7 December 2021
- N. Ferreira, ‘Is the asylum system fit for purpose for Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity (SOGI) claimants?‘, Routes Conversations, University of Exeter, 14 October 2021
- N. Held, Roundtable Queer migrants & asylum seekers – Everyday bordering and negotiating belonging, GenSeM Online Symposium, 22-23 September 2021.
- C. Danisi and N. Ferreira, SOGI Asylum and (In)visible families, (Dis)connecting People? The law and practice of family reunification, Ghent, Belgium, 9-10 September 2021.
- C. Danisi and N. Ferreira, Legal violence and (in)visible families: How law shapes and erases families in SOGI asylum in Europe, UACES annual conference, 6-8 September 2021.
- Anbid Zaman, ‘”I don’t fit in anywhere. Where do you place me?” – Marsha, a black lesbian migrant mother’, Pre-Summit on Refugees, Borders and Immigration, Copenhagen 2021 WorldPride & EuroGames, 19 August 2021.
- M. Dustin, N. Held and A. Zaman, Queer Asylum in Europe: Representation, Challenges and Activism, IASFM18, Ghana, 29 July 2021.
- M. Dustin, A journey to reconciliation? Asylum, religion and LGBTQI+ identities in the UK, IASFM18, Ghana, 29 July 2021.
- N. Ferreira, Conferência Intermédia Projeto Way Out – Aqui estás segur@ – Asilo e Migração LGBTI+ (panel member), 23 July 2021.
- N. Ferreira, Seeking asylum in Europe: Recommendations on sexual orientation and gender identity asylum claims, IPSA 26th World Congress of Political Science, Lisbon, Portugal, 10-14 July 2021.
- SOGICA team, participation in several sessions and co-chairing of a session in the event ‘2021 Global Roundtable on Protection and Solutions for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer (LGBTIQ+) Persons in Forced Displacement‘, organised by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the UN Independent Expert on Protection Against Violence and Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (UN IE SOGI) (by invitation). Summary conclusions available here.
- N. Ferreira, Queer asylum in Europe, at 4th International Congress of Law of Diversity, Brazilian Bar Association (São Paulo), 24 June 2021.
- N. Ferreira, participation at seminar ‘Credibility assessment in refugee status decision-making: Insights from law and psychology’, Royal Holloway University of London Centre for Study of Emotion and Law (CESL), 22 June 2021.
- SOGICA participation in the “News from Nowhere” exhibition, organised by SEAS (Socially Engaged Art Salon), Brighton & Hove – launch event on 13 June 2021, with N. Ferreira joining the panel of artists.
- SOGICA exhibition at the Jubilee Library, Brighton & Hove, 12-24 June 2021 – see the exhibition’s panels here.
- C. Danisi, Le richieste di asilo su base SOGI: la ricerca europea SOGICA, organised by Arcigay Naples in cooperation with the Italian Government’s Office against Racial Discrimination, 21 March 2021.
- C. Danisi and N. Ferreira, Le richieste di protezione internazionale basate sull’orientamento sessuale e sull’identita’ di genere: quali riforme?, roundtable hosted by Accademia Diritto e Immigrazione, in cooperation with UNHCR Italy, 10 February 2021.
- C. Danisi, ‘SOGICA recommendations on SOGI claims’, EASO Webinar on ‘Asylum procedures related to SOGI claims’, 2 February 2021.
2020
- N. Ferreira, Seeking asylum in Europe: ‘European values’ and queer claims, in lecture series European values, citizenship and belonging, University of Antwerp, 16 December 2020.
- M. Dustin, member of panel on migrants’ experiences and intersectionality, University and College Union Migrant Members’ Annual Conference, 3 December 2020.
- C. Danisi, Le richieste basate sull’identita’ di genere: una sfida europea sui diritti umani, at Migrazioni Trans: Attivismo, Accoglienza, Ricerca, Festival Divergenti (online), Bologna, 26 November 2020.
- M. Dustin and N. Ferreira, ‘SOGICA recommendations on reception’, EASO Webinar on ‘Identification, outreach and reception of LGBTI applicants’, 25 November 2020.
- N. Held, ‘Queer Asylum in Europe: Intersectional human rights challenges’, UCLan Research Centre for Migration, Diaspora and Exile (MIDEX) research seminar, 7 October 2020.
- SOGICA team, Policy roundtable, University of Sussex (online), 15 September 2020*.
*The event was an opportunity for officials and senior NGO representatives working at a European and international level and in the countries researched by the SOGICA project – Germany, Italy and the UK – to explore new approaches to current problems and ways to support the work of decision makers, practitioners and service providers. A note of the roundtable summarises key points from the roundtable discussion.
- C. Danisi, UNIRE (the National Italian Network for Refugees and Exiled), 20 June 2020.
- C. Danisi, Le richieste di asilo SOGI: profili europei e italiani, Universita’ di Napoli – L’Orientale, Naples, Italy, 1 June 2020.
- N. Ferreira, member of panel ‘A European Perspective on COVID-19 and Queer Asylum’, at Online Symposium: COVID-19 and Queer Asylum, 29 April 2020.
- N. Held, Online Symposium: COVID-19 and Queer Asylum, 29 April 2020 (co-organiser).
- N. Ferreira, speaker at plenary session on Gender equality and queer rights in an age of populism, Socio-Legal Studies Association (SLSA) Annual Conference, Portsmouth Law School, Portsmouth, UK, 1 April 2020 (cancelled due to COVID-19).
- N. Ferreira, An intersectional approach to policy and decision making on SOGI asylum claims in Europe, public seminar series of the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford, UK, 26 February 2020 (cancelled due to industrial action).
2019
- C. Danisi, Vulnerability as a “revolutionary” concept in international and European human rights law for the protection of migrants and refugees?’, lecture part of a series on Arriving, Returning, or Modern Nomadism, at University of Bonn, Germany, 17 December 2019.
- M. Dustin and C. Danisi. SOGI asylum in Italy and the UK: worlds apart?, at Sussex meets GenSeM: Frontiers in research, University of Sussex, Brighton, 21 November 2019.
- N. Ferreira, As if in a labyrinth: SOGI asylum requests in Italy, at Rete Lenford conference, Trieste, Italy, 15-16 November 2019.
- N. Ferreira, An Exercise in Detachment: The Strasbourg Court and Sexual Minority Refugees, at the UACES 49th Annual Conference, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.
- N. Held, ‘We’re not asking for a palace, just a safe space’: the intersections of sexuality, space and ‘refugeeness’ in the lives of LGBTQI* refugees, at the 14th Conference of the European Sociological Association, Europe and Beyond: Boundaries, Barriers and Belonging, Manchester, 21 August 2019.
- The SOGICA team and the Cornelia Goethe Centre at the Frankfurt Goethe University organised the Conference Under the European Asylum Rainbow: intersectional queer challenges, in Frankfurt, 4 July 2019. The event also included several Theme Tables.
Photos from conference in Frankfurt
- M. Dustin and N. Ferreira, LGBTQI* Asylum in Europe, at conference Under the European Asylum Rainbow: intersectional queer challenges, in Frankfurt, 4 July 2019.
- C. Danisi, Comparative Approaches to SOGI Asylum, at conference Under the European Asylum Rainbow: intersectional queer challenges, in Frankfurt, 4 July 2019.
- C. Danisi, Queering Asylum: A European Human Rights Challenge, at the Summer School on Diversity and Migration, University of Antwerp, 2 July 2019.
- M. Dustin, ‘When did you first realise you were gay?’, at workshop Contemporary challenges facing LGBT+ asylum seekers: UK and global perspectives, University of Reading, 1 May 2019. Panel podcast available at GLAR (episodes 33 and 34).
- N. Ferreira, ‘The Strasbourg Court and sexual minority refugees: An exercise in detachment’, at workshop Contemporary challenges facing LGBT+ asylum seekers: UK and global perspectives, University of Reading, 1 May 2019. Panel podcast pending.
- C. Danisi, La tutela contro la discriminazione sulla base dell’orientamento sessuale: il potenziale ruolo nella CEDU nella protezione dei richiedenti asilo SOGI (The protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation: The potential role of the ECHR in safeguarding SOGI asylum seekers), at Seminar ‘Migro perche’ sono – 2019′, School of Law, University of Bologna, 28 March 2019.
- N.Held, ‘Here, I have no choice’: being a lesbian and a refugee – Intersectional experiences of time and space, presentation at the Lesbian Lives 2019 conference, Brighton, 16 March 2019.
- N.Held, The situation of LGBTQI+ refugees in Europe (SOGICA preliminary findings), presentation at Festival des migrations, des cultures et de la Citoyenneté, Sexualities in Exile (invited by CIGALE), Luxembourg, 2 March 2019.
- N. Ferreira, Asylum, sexuality and gender identity: some preliminary findings of the SOGICA project (keynote speaker) and participant in roundtable on ‘Ethics of gender and migration research within institutional academia and beyond: perspectives from 4 ERC-funded projects’, in workshop Intimate (In)Justice: Gender and Sexuality in the Politics of Borders at Ca’ Foscari University, Venice, Italy, 11-12 February 2019.
- M. Dustin, SOGICA project presentation at PROTECT (preventing sexual and gender-based violence against migrants and strengthening support to victims) kick-off meeting, International Organization for Migration (IOM), Budapest, 15 January 2019.
2018
- C. Danisi, What ‘Safe Harbours’ are There for People Seeking International Protection on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Grounds in the Context of the Mediterranean Crisis?, Universita’ di Napoli – L’Orientale, Italy, 19 December 2018.
- N. Ferreira, Human Rights of the Most Vulnerable: Children, LGBTI and the Right to Asylum in Europe, Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies, KU Leuven, Belgium, 12 December 2018.
- N. Ferreira, Queering asylum across Europe: Some preliminary comparative findings, Sussex Centre for Migration research (SCMR) research seminar, University of Sussex, UK, 17 October 2018.
- N. Ferreira, An exercise in detachment: The Strasbourg Court and sexual minority refugees, at the 10th European Feminist Research Conference, Goettingen, Germany, 14 September 2018.
- N. Held, ‘They sent me to the mountain’: LGBTQI* refugees’ intersectional experience of ‘integration’ in Germany, at the 10th European Feminist Research Conference, Goettingen, Germany, 13 September 2018.
- N. Ferreira, Queering asylum across Europe: The legal and social experiences of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) asylum seekers, at the ‘LGTB asylum seekers and refugees in Spain’ project meeting, ACCEM, Madrid, Spain, 7 September 2018.
- N. Held, Migration On The Continent: LGBTI Refugees & Multiple Discrimination Panel, at EuroPride Human Rights Conference, Stockholm, Sweden, 3 August 2018.
- N. Ferreira, C. Danisi and M. Dustin, Panel Queering asylum across Europe: The legal and social experiences of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) asylum seekers, 2018 International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM) Conference, Thessaloniki, Greece, 26 July 2018.
- C. Danisi, Le richieste di asilo SOGI in Italia alla luce del sistema europeo di tutela, at La promozione dei diritti umani a livello locale e regionale, conference organised in the context of the FIDEM festival, Palazzo dell’Assemblea Regionale dell’Umbria, Perugia, 30 June 2018.
- N. Ferreira, SOGICA – Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Claims of Asylum: A European human rights challenge, at seminar Orgoglio e pregiudizio? Essere migranti LGBTIQ+, organised by Anziani e non solo, in collaboration with MigraBo LGBTI, Cassero LGBT Center, Bologna, 15 June 2018.
- C. Danisi, Crossing Borders: Sexual Orientation, Asylum and Human Rights, at Gender, Borders and Human Rights, Experts Seminar, University of Ghent, Human Rights Centre, Ghent, 28 May 2018.
- C. Danisi, I richiedenti e i rifugiati SOGI come gruppo vulnerabile? Spunti di riflessione alla luce del sistema europeo di tutela, at La protezione internazionale basata sull’orientamento sessuale e l’identita’ di genere, organised by ASGI – Associazione Studi Giuridici sull’Immigrazione, Verona, 25 May 2018.
- N. Ferreira, The European Dimension of SOGI Asylum Claims and the CEAS Reform, at the conference Vulnerability and Asylum: Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Claims Conference, University of Bologna (Forlì campus), 18 May 2018.
- N. Held, SOGI claims in Germany: intersectional social and legal challenges, at the conference Vulnerability and Asylum: Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Claims Conference, University of Bologna (Forlì campus), 18 May 2018.
- The SOGICA team and the Department of Political and Social Science of the University of Bologna, organised the Conference Vulnerability and Asylum: Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Claims, held on 18 May 2018 at the Forlì campus of the University of Bologna, Italy.
Photos from conference in Forlì
Review here
- N. Ferreira, Sexual and gender minorities in asylum seeking, workshop at event ‘Queory: Gender, Sexuality, and the Hostile Environment’, University of Sussex, UK, 12 May 2018.
- C. Danisi, The Prohibition of Discrimination on the grounds of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and the ECHR – The SOGICA Project, at Migro perchè sono: Problematiche e storie dell’immigrazione LGBT, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy, 9 April 2018.
- M. Dustin, Neoliberal agendas and asylum for women and sexual minorities, work in progress presented at the International Studies Association Conference, San Francisco, USA, April 2018.
- M. Dustin, Global Perspectives Panel, at Rainbow Pilgrims Symposium: LGBTQI Migrant and Travelling Communities Perspectives, Buckinghamshire New University, UK, 14 February 2018.
2017
- N. Ferreira, EU queer asylum policy: In search of a fairer system, at Queer migration, diaspora and asylum in Europe conference’, UCL, London, 9 December 2017.
- M. Dustin and N. Held, Square pegs in round holes? Exploring the misfit between the Refugee Convention and LGBTQI claims in Germany and the UK, at Queer migration, diaspora and asylum in Europe conference, UCL, London, 9 December 2017.
- M. Dustin, Proving the unprovable? Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Claims of Asylum, at a seminar about LGBTQI asylum, University of Roehampton, 20 November 2017.
- N. Ferreira, Seeking asylum in Europe: Delving into sexual orientation and gender identity asylum claims, at the UACES 47th Annual Conference, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland, 4 September 2017.
- N.Held, Lesbian asylum seekers’ intersectional experience of violence in the UK, presented at Reconsidering gender-based violence in the context of displacement and migration, Summer Symposium, Centre for Gender Studies, University of Göttingen, Germany (invited speaker), 6 July 2017.
- N. Ferreira, M. Dustin, N. Held, C. Danisi, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Asylum Claims: A European and Comparative View, Panel at the 2nd Annual Conference Refugee Law Initiative, School of Advanced Study – University of London, 5-7 June 2017.
- N. Ferreira, Seeking asylum in Europe: Delving into sexual orientation and gender identity asylum claims, presented at Nordic Asylum Law Seminar, University of Iceland, 29-30 May 2017.
- C. Danisi, Personal characteristics v objective situations in the application of the ECHR to asylum seekers: Towards a coherent interpretation of the European human rights system?, presented at Nordic Asylum Law Seminar, University of Iceland, 29-30 May 2017.
- M. Dustin, N. Held, Proving the unprovable: the social-legal experiences of SOGI asylum seekers in the UK and Germany: a comparative, interdisciplinary and intersectional approach, presented at workshop Queer migration, diaspora and asylum in Europe, University College London, 16 May 2017.
- N. Held, What does a genuine lesbian/gay relationship look like in the eyes of asylum decision makers?, presented at the launch of the Special Issue of Discover Society ‘Families and Relationships across Crises’, Amnesty International UK, London, 12 May 2017.
- C. Danisi, Tra Tortura e Discriminazione: L’Omosessualità nel XXI secolo, University of Bologna – School of Law, 28 April 2017.
- N. Ferreira, M. Dustin, N. Held, C. Danisi, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Claims of Asylum, panel at the University of Oxford Refugee Studies Centre Conference 2017 ‘Beyond crisis: Rethinking Refugee Studies’, 16-17 March 2017 – listen to the podcast here.
- N. Ferreira, M. Dustin, N. Held, C. Danisi, Asylum and Sexual / Gender Minorities, workshops at the conference ‘A world on the move – The story of a refugee’, University of Sussex, 4 February 2017.
- N. Ferreira, M. Dustin, N. Held, C. Danisi, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Claims of Asylum, presented at the University of Sussex, 25 January 2017, as part of the Year of Migration’s initiatives.
2016
- N. Held, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Claims of Asylum: A European human rights challenge – SOGICA, presented at the Conference Refugees and Queers, 26 November 2016 in Dresden – Deutsches Hygiene Museum.
- N. Ferreira, Researching refugees and asylum in the current European crisis, workshop ‘Crisis and Innovation in the European Union: Beyond Populism and Managerialism‘, University of Warwick, UK (invited speaker), 13 May 2016.
- N. Ferreira, Delivery of session on SOGI asylum seekers within framework of Student Action For Refugees (STAR) Liverpool Academic Lectures on Refugees, Asylum seekers and Migrants (invited speaker), 16 March 2016.