In an increasingly fractured society, how do we work towards achieving Gender Equity?

2025 is already proving to be a concerning year for women and girls’ rights internationally, continuing a global trend of gender equality stalling or going backwards (The Guardian, 2024). With four years of the Trump administration looming ahead, signaling a deliberate attack on both women’s and trans people’s rights, how can we cut through the noise and forge a practical path towards gender equity?

In honour of International Women’s Day, join us for an engaging discussion with a panel of academics at King’s. The panel will be reflecting on the below key questions:

• What role does research play in achieving gender equity?

• Which sectors need the most urgent reform?

• How can we work towards achieving gender equity through both collective and individual action?

Panelists

Professor Christina Scharff

Christina explores gender, media and culture from an international perspective, through theoretically informed empirical research, and collaboration with colleagues and students. Before joining CMCI in 2010, Christina was Fellow in Contemporary Social Thought at the Sociology Department, London School of Economics. Christina has held various research grants from the Economic and Social Research Council and the British Academy.

Dr Billy Holzberg

Billy Holzberg is a Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Social Justice. His research, teaching and public engagement draw on transnational, liberatory, and collaborative queer feminist approaches. Prior to joining King's College London, he was a Fellow in Gender and Sexuality at the Department of Sociology at the London School of Economics, where he also completed his PhD in the Department of Gender Studies.

Areej Abuqudairi

Areej Abuqudairi is a doctoral researcher and a graduate teaching fellow at the School of Education, Communication & Society. Her doctoral research examines grassroots feminist activism in the middle east and north Africa, especially in the aftermath of the Arab Uprisings. Prior to joining King’s, Areej worked as a lecturer at HTU University in Jordan (2018-2024) where she introduced and designed a course on human rights and advocacy. She also taught other modules on professional and personal development.

Daniela Horta

Daniela Horta (she/her) is a PhD researcher in International Political Economy, affiliated with the King’s Institute for Artificial Intelligence and the Gender Studies Network at KCL. Her research focuses on understanding the effects of the implementation of Chile’s national AI policy on AI-related work done by women, and how this has broader implications for governance and gender issues. She holds a Master's degree in Public Policy from Erasmus University Rotterdam and the University of York, as well as a Master Lv.I in Gender Studies and Politics from Roma Tre, Italy.

Order of Events

7pm - Refreshments and networking

7.30pm - Panel discussion and audience Q&A

9pm - Closing words