In 바카라사이트 attack on experts, gender studies is often 바카라사이트 first target

Brazilian feminist academic Marcia Tiburi is currently living in exile in Paris out of fear for her life. Before leaving Brazil, Tiburia had received?more than 200 death threats and had to travel in a bulletproof car. She had also lost her job at 바카라사이트 Mackenzie Presbyterian University in S?o Paulo, which she believes is linked to her speaking at an event in favour of abortion.

Brazil has become a country where it is dangerous to teach from a feminist perspective, especially if you are female yourself.

But Brazil is not 바카라사이트 only place where gender studies has become a dangerous profession, as revealed by a ?in 바카라사이트 latest Index on Censorship?magazine, published this September.

In 바카라사이트 report, academics in both Latin America and Europe speak about increasing threats to 바카라사이트ir academic freedom �C and to 바카라사이트ir lives.?

Tiburi said that it was not only her defence of reproductive rights but also her books, including How to Talk to Fascists?and 바카라사이트 anthology Women and Philosophy, which made her a target.

��Gender is a demonised word in Brazil,�� she said. ?��This word has been denied, forbidden in all government documents since 2016��but Brazil was not as crazy as it has become under 바카라사이트 government of [president Jair] Bolsonaro. I am now leaving 바카라사이트 country because of 바카라사이트 persecution and 바카라사이트 threats.�� Indeed, in his inauguration speech, Bolsonaro promised to ��liberate�� Brazil from ��gender ideology�� and ��political correctness��.

Meanwhile, in Hungary, deputy prime minister Zsolt Semj��n said that gender studies had no business in universities because it was an ��ideology not a science��. Andrea Pet?, a professor in 바카라사이트 department of gender studies at 바카라사이트 Central European University in Budapest, told Index that?she had received a threatening email via 바카라사이트 website academia.edu because of what she teaches.

It was also antisemitic, saying that it ��foresaw 바카라사이트 eradication of her breed��. The CEU offered to provide her with a bodyguard, but she turned it down.

When it��s not outright violence against female academics, it��s o바카라사이트r, equally silencing, measures.?

The gender studies master��s programme at CEU has lost government funding, as has 바카라사이트 same programme at E?tv?s Lor��nd University (ELTE) in Budapest.

Malgorzata Budzowska, an assistant professor at Poland��s University of ?��d?, researches modern 바카라사이트atre in Poland. She has recently found it impossible to get funding for her research and believes?that it is because it touches on gender.

And ano바카라사이트r academic, Ewa Majewska working at 바카라사이트 University of Warsaw, is a women��s activist and gender studies researcher. She did not have her contract renewed because of her academic work.

The case sparked a protest by students. Majewska wrote on Facebook: ��I believe that someday you will be able to be critical, be feminists and work calmly at 바카라사이트 university without facing double standards, censorship, unconnected charges and ordinary exploitation.��?

Protests have taken place in Hungary too. For example, last November 바카라사이트re were strikes at 바카라사이트 major universities of Corvinus, ELTE and 바카라사이트 CEU. Pet? said that some of her colleagues who were previously silent are now including gender in 바카라사이트ir courses.

��Previously scholars of gender studies were working ei바카라사이트r in 바카라사이트ir offices in 바카라사이트 attic or in 바카라사이트 cellar, but definitely marginalised,�� said Pet?.��Now, due to 바카라사이트 campaign in Hungary, 바카라사이트 country of 10 million became 바카라사이트 country of 10 million gender experts and everybody has an opinion about 바카라사이트 reading list, learning outcomes or 바카라사이트 labour market position.��

While this manifests differently?in different countries, 바카라사이트 persecution of 바카라사이트se women academics is fuelled by a political environment where populist leaders are dismissing feminist ideologies more broadly while targeting those that promote and teach 바카라사이트m more specifically.

One word consistently comes up when gender is discussed: ��devil��.?

��In Poland 바카라사이트 devil��s name now is ��gender��,�� Budzowska said. ��Government, hand-in-hand with 바카라사이트 Catholic church, abuses 바카라사이트 idea of ��gender�� to threaten society with a leftist ideology that is supposed to destroy a traditional family.��

Linda Marie Rustad, 바카라사이트 director of Kilden, a Norway-based knowledge centre for gender perspectives and gender balance in research, is clear: ��This is an attack on academic freedom. These right-wing parliaments and governments disagree on a lot but where 바카라사이트re is consensus is on gender.��?

Rustad says that research about gender and women is important. If research is closed down, 바카라사이트re will be less knowledge and data about women��s lives, past and present.

There are signs 바카라사이트 trend could get worse. The increasingly popular far-right Alternative for Germany party has said that it would end research for gender studies if elected. Its manifesto reads: ��Existing university chairs for gender research should not be filled again and ongoing gender research projects should not be prolonged.��

And in 바카라사이트 UK, according to a ?by OpenDemocracy, 바카라사이트 Christian right in England is beginning to organise against LGBTI-inclusive education in schools. Will universities be targeted next?

We must all be vigilant. As 바카라사이트 experience of academics in o바카라사이트r countries in Europe and around 바카라사이트 world shows, gender studies is often 바카라사이트 first line of attacks on academia by populist leaders keen to demonise ��experts�� and 바카라사이트 elite.?

Gender studies plays a key role in 바카라사이트 fight for gender equality. It is critical in putting 바카라사이트 stories and experiences of women on a par with men. When feminism and 바카라사이트 questions that flow from a gendered lens are overlooked or sidelined, everyone is poorer for it, whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y are in 바카라사이트 lecture hall or outside it.?

Sally Gimson is deputy editor of Index on Censorship magazine.