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Maureen Farrell:
The 1st Christina Conference on Women's Studies
"Rights and Representations" January 10-11, 2003

I was delighted to be able to participate in the Christina Conference at Helsinki University. Having studied Women's Studies and English in the United States, at Union College in New York, I have a strong interest in broadening my understanding of women's issues and themes in academic research to include a greater cultural perspective. I currently study Women's Studies at Helsinki University as a Fulbright grantee, and am a member of the HY student women's group, Asenne-F. My particular interests in Women's Studies include American and Spanish women's literature, social policy and health issues for women, and violence against women.

I was impressed with the conference's high level of organization and its inclusion of an interesting variety of presentations related to the themes of Visual Representations of Gender and Women's Law and Rights. In the Panel II session on Friday, Anu Pylkkänen's lecture laid a solid foundation for discussing women's position under Finnish law, by pointing to the tendency of Finnish legal language to create a norm and an Other. Johanna Niemi-Kiesiläinen's lecture on domestic violence broadened this dialogue, addressing the problematic legal treatment of domestic violence as a special case or exception to standard legal procedures.

Minna Ruuskanen challenged the myths of domestic violence, which included the "strong Nordic woman" model and the belief that Finnish healthcare provides many services for survivors of domestic abuse. In the cases where a woman has killed her perpetrator, Ruuskanen averred that these women abandoned the stereotypical image of the "good woman," because women are not 'socially allowed' to act violently. Päivi Honkatukia and Heini Kainulainen's theatrical presentation comparing British and Finnish police departments' response to sexual violence served as an effective and entertaining conclusion to the Panel session. Their unique presentation style (a mock dialogue between police officers) highlighted the frustrations and difficulties of researching this "difficult, silenced and controversial" topic of sexual violence against women.

In all, the conference was a lively forum for the presentation of research findings and discussion. I enjoyed all of the lectures I attended, and regret that I may only mention a few here. A successful conference, which I hope will become a regular event at the Christina Institute.

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