A discussion hosted by the Gender Studies Department and the African Research Group regarding the intersections of gender studies, sexuality studies, and African Studies.
Dr. Grace Nyamongo, Research Associate/Lecturer at the African Women’s Studies Centre, University of Nairobi.
“Woman-to-Woman Marriage Relationships in Africa: Challenges, and Implications”: Woman-to-woman marriage is a cultural practice that permits a childless or sonless woman (also popularly known as female husband) to marry another woman (female wife) in order to bring forth male children who will ensure the continuity of her lineage. The paper highlights the experiences, challenges and perspectives of those involved in the advancement of woman to woman marriage relationships among the Kamba community of eastern Kenya.
Heather Tucker, PhD Candidate, Gender Studies, Central European University
“Supi and the NGO: women who have sex with women, and assemblages of NGOization in Accra, Ghana”: Following an 8-month ethnographic study, this research aims to explore the lived realities of women who have sex with women in Accra, West Africa and the intersecting of their lives with NGO spaces. Focusing on ethnographic examples of LBTW focused interventionism, this presentation will highlight examples from the study which articulate the needs of women who have sex with women as well as to attempt to describe the complicated layers of their lived experience as it intersects with Ghanaian law, NGOization, and social and economic realities.
Dr. Grace Bosibori Nyamongo is a Research Associate /Lecturer at the African Women’s Studies Centre –University University of Nairobi. Awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship to pursue PhD studies, in 2009 she received her PhD in Women’s Studies from York University. She has been an GEXCel Scholar at Linkoping University – Sweden, an Assistant Professor at Dartmouth College-New Hampshire- USA, and a lecturer at Kenyatta University. Her research interests include women and work, violence against women, girls and other vulnerable groups, gender issues, governance, and sexuality. In the area of transformative advocacy, she is actively engaged in sensitizing rural people on issues such as poverty eradication strategies, HIV/AIDS, education, FGM, peace and conflict resolution among others, and recently vied for a political position in Kenya’s last general elections. Currently, Dr. Grace Nyamongo is a visiting research fellow being hosted by the CEU Department of Gender Studies.
Heather Tucker is a PhD Candidate at Central European University’s Gender Studies Department. An MA graduate from the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, and a consultant in the field of gender, identity, human rights, and development, Heather recently completed 8 months of ethnographic research in Accra, Ghana, amongst women who have sex with women and NGO’s working on the topics of sexuality, health, HIV, and human rights.