Leiden University and Utrecht University invite abstracts for a January 2027 conference on gender and criminal law.
About Leiden University and Utrecht University
The Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology at Leiden University, in collaboration with the Willem Pompe Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology at Utrecht University, is organising an international conference on Gender & Criminal Law: Global Perspectives & Local Lessons – Gendered Perspectives on Criminal Justice. The conference will be held at Leiden Law School, the Netherlands.
The conference will bring together scholars from law, criminology, sociology, political science, gender studies, and related disciplines to examine how gender shapes criminal law, institutional practices, and experiences within criminal justice systems.
About the Opportunity
The organisers have issued a Call for Abstracts for thematic panels at the conference. The conference welcomes theoretical, doctrinal, empirical, and comparative contributions examining the intersections of gender and criminal law across different jurisdictions.
Accepted abstracts will be grouped into thematic panels by the conference organisers. The organisers particularly encourage submissions from early-career scholars and underrepresented regions and perspectives.
Location
The conference will be held at Leiden Law School in Leiden, the Netherlands.
Date
The conference will be held on January 29 and 30, 2027.
Mode
The conference will have a fully in-person programme comprising plenary sessions and parallel panels.
Theme
The overarching theme of the conference is “Gender and Criminal Law: Global Perspectives & Local Lessons – Gendered Perspectives on Criminal Justice.”
Possible topics include:
- Gender-based violence
- Femicide
- Criminalization of reproductive conduct
- Hate crimes
- LGBTQI+ experiences in criminal justice systems
- Intersectionality and sentencing disparities
- Feminism and vulnerability theory
- Gendered dimensions of policing and prosecution
- Carceral feminism and critiques of punitive approaches
- Restorative and transformative justice models
- Technology-facilitated abuse and digital harms
- (Toxic) masculinity
- Comparative and transnational perspectives
Submission Requirements
Submissions must include:
- Title of the paper.
- An abstract of 300–500 words in English.
- Name, organisation, and institutional email address of the presenter or presenters.
- A short biographical note of one page.
The organisers give priority to submissions that adopt critical approaches, engage with a solid theoretical framework, and are based on empirical research.
Deadline
The deadline for abstract submissions is October 31, 2026.
Important Dates
- July 29, 2026: Call for Abstracts opens.
- October 31, 2026: Call for Abstracts closes.
- November 30, 2026: Notification of acceptance.
- December 2026: Final programme.
- January 29–30, 2027: Conference in Leiden, the Netherlands.
Registration Fee
All conference participants, including speakers, panel chairs, and attendees, must register at a cost of €125 per person for the two-day conference. Submitting an abstract does not automatically constitute conference registration.
Financial Support
A limited number of partial fee waivers and travel grants are available for participants who would otherwise be unable to attend because of financial constraints. Applicants seeking financial support may indicate this while submitting their proposal and specify whether partial support would be sufficient.
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Contact
The available call does not specify a separate contact email address.
Application Procedure
Interested researchers may submit their abstracts through the following:
- The submission must include the paper title, 300–500 word abstract, presenter details, institutional email address, and one-page biographical note.
- Researchers seeking financial support should indicate this while submitting their proposal.
- Abstracts must be submitted by October 31, 2026.
- Authors of accepted abstracts will subsequently be invited to complete conference registration.
