Join us on Wednesday, June 17th, as the AVA Webinar Series presents GBV and Disability Justice: Moving Toward Collective Liberation, featuring Dr. Stefanie Hunt-Kennedy and Dr. Yvonne Simpson from the Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research at the University of New Brunswick
Wednesday, June 17th, 2026
12 – 1:30pm MST
In June 2025, the Government of New Brunswick joined other provinces in declaring gender-based violence (GBV) both an epidemic and a systemic issue. Disabled women and girls are up to three times more likely to experience GBV than their non-disabled peers, yet the significance of this disparity is often obscured by limited or confusing information in a climate focused on setting priorities for action. This webinar seeks to clarify these complexities and deepen understanding of the intersections between GBV and disability. Drs. Yvonne Simpsn and Stefanie Hunt-Kennedy will examine ableism as a form of structural power and privilege, demonstrating its central role in shaping the prevalence of GBV and the barriers faced by disabled women and girls in accessing support, safety, and justice.
About the Speakers
Dr. Yvonne Simpson (she/her) is an educator, researcher, and disability justice practitioner whose scholarship draws on the theories of intersectionality, critical race theory, and critical disability studies to interrogate gaps and distortions in gender-based violence. As the Purdy Crawford/TD Bank Postdoctoral Fellowship in Accessibility at UNB/MMFC, her project, “Undue Hardship in Disability Healthcare Access: A Historical Perspective for Intersectional Change”, will examine systemic barriers to healthcare access for disabled people in New Brunswick, with emphasis on the lived experiences of disabled women.
Dr. Stefanie Hunt-Kennedy (she/her) is a Professor of History and Director of the Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research at the University of New Brunswick. She is a multi-award-winning interdisciplinary scholar whose research explores the historical and contemporary intersections between disability, gender, race, and violence. Working in collaboration with disabled youth and young adults, community partners, educators, and researchers, Stefanie’s current research seeks to ‘crip’ sex education in New Brunswick as a strategy for preventing gender-based violence.