Within recent years, there has been a growth of interest in both queer health and geographies of sexualities. However, the majority of this research has focused on both queer health and use of space as they related to sexual activity, sex-related health risks, and desire, while overlooking those aspects of both queer identity and health that are not directly tied to sexual activity. This study addresses these gaps within the literature by studying queer health using the lens of place. The objective of this study is to understand how self-identified queer students at the University of Saskatchewan negotiated space and in particular, safe spaces, in their daily lives, and how this negotiation affected their health and well-being. This research was conceptually guided by ideas within feminist thought and queer theory. The study took place in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and included a group of five University of Saskatchewan undergraduate and certificate students who self-identified as queer. Participants were recruited through advertisements posted both online and throughout the campus. Data were collected through an action research approach with methods that included individual interviews, group meetings, and Photovoice. Results of the study include a list of elements that participants used to label safe spaces and lists of common safe spaces and safe areas on the University of Saskatchewan campus and throughout Saskatoon. Participants in this study emphasized the relationship between the people who made regular use of a space, its overall "feel," and their familiarity with the space with its level of safety, while also making it clear that queer was not always synonymous with safe. These findings yield insight into the process that individuals use to mentally label space and the subsequent ways in which this labelling influences use of space and, on a broader level, reflects individual and group identity. This raises some important questions about current definitions and ideas regarding safe spaces and provides a foundation for future research.

Researchers continue to emphasize the important role supervisors have in creating a safe space for supervisees to effectively navigate and engage in honest multicultural conversations while also addressing potential biases (e.g., Ancis & Marshall, 2010). However, much of the literature on multicultural supervision provides limited guidance on what characteristics define a safe space. The purpose of this study was to examine accounts of counseling psychology graduate students to learn about their understanding and definitions of safe space and brave space within multicultural supervision, using grounded theory methodology (Corbin & Strauss, 2015). Specifically, the purpose of the study was threefold: (a) to define what a safe space and a brave space is from supervisees’ perspective, (b) to determine if the concept of a safe space is viewed similarly or differently to a brave space, and (c) to identify specific behaviors and interventions that supervisors perform that make a supervisee feel they are in a safe or brave space. Results yielded a model characterized by three core dimensions that comprise safe and brave spaces including: (a) safety within the physical space, (b), definitions and use of brave and safe spaces, and (c) supervisor actions and behaviors. This study adds to the current multicultural supervision training scholarship by providing new perspectives on how supervisees in counseling psychology doctoral programs make sense of safe and brave spaces during multicultural supervision and what supervisors can do to create such spaces.

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Few African American males do not have at least one memory of a barbershop. The barbershop is a space that finds a home in virtually every community in which you find Black males. To some degree, virtually all genres and periods of African American literary expression have situated the barbershop as a mediating space in the formulation of a Black masculine identity. The barbershop as mediating space allows Black males the opportunity to view themselves and also critique the ways in which they are gazed upon by the literary imagination. African American authors, through the use of the barbershop, bring to the center the construction of this space in Black masculinity identity formation. ¬ Although a common presence in African American literature, the barbershop has not received any serious, i.e. book length examinations in literary analysis. I argue that the historical portrayal of the barbershop as mediating space problematizes the intersections of ancestor, culture, history, memory and literary imagination to reveal the intricate relationship between Black males and the space. I seek to address the gap in coverage of the literary treatment of the African American barbershop as mediating structure in the formulation of a black masculine identity. My research will show that we cannot fully understand the literary formation of Black masculine identity unless we attend to the barbershop as a formative mediating space.

As a result of the #MeToo movement in Sweden, #sistabriefen was created to represent the women, non-binaries and trans-persons working within the communications industry. This study analyzes the dynamics and identities of the #sistabriefen group members on their private social media platform. The analysis incorporates The Logic of Connective Action by Bennett and Segerberg (2012), and two complementary Social Identity Perspectives; Social Identity Theory and Self-Categorization Theory (Hogg & Terry, 2001; Hogg & Reid, 2006). The study consisted of 23 interview participants, and a qualitative content analysis over the course of five months. This research assesses how members are motivated to participate in the #sistabriefen group, how they identify themselves within the group, and how the group features affect members’ involvement. The findings of the research indicated that digital social movements have the potential to effectively mobilize social change.

Humanitarian interventions increasingly use safe spaces as part of their work on SGBV prevention, mitigation and response. Therefore, this thesis examines how safe spaces have affected refugee women in the regional response to the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. The method is a literature review analysing reports, news articles and guidelines. The analysis uses the concepts of empowerment and gendered conflict theory for a deeper understanding of what consequences safe spaces have on refugee women in terms of empowerment and strengthened role in society. The analysis shows that safe spaces are integrated with other sectors and have enabled creation of regional standardization and cross-border protection. Response plans incorporate empowerment as a central aspect with awareness-raising, community outreach, economic empowerment, social support and community resilience key components. It also showed an increased need of safe spaces at unofficial border crossings and that gender stereotypes continue to place women at risk in Venezuela and countries of destination.

The purpose of this study is to examine women's experiences of safety and community within gender separatist Facebook groups. In order to examine this, a qualitative method is used where five semi-structured interviews are conducted with members from different gender separatist groups on Facebook. The analysis shows that members experience a feeling of safety and community when they share experiences with each other regarding online harassment from men and when they can find support in each other regarding their shared experiences of living in a patriarchy. Many members experience these separatist groups like a safe haven where they can ‘breathe’ and find a peaceful environment to explore their interests in. The safety and community in these gender separatist groups also comes with some challenges. These primarily concern inclusion and exclusion, where white women with a strong grasp of feminist terminology have an easier time being included than others. There are also challenges when it comes to creating a safe environment but still having open conversations. We find that members feel safer when certain limitations are put on what topics can be discussed and on how to conduct them. However, this also limits what can be expressed within these spaces.

Magister Artium - MA / In South Africa, abortion became a right in 1996 in terms of the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act, 92 of 1996 (CTOP). However, despite this legal dispensation, debates between pro-life (those against abortion) and pro-choice (those supportive of the law) have continued unabated in liberal South Africa. These debates have resulted in severe stigma for women who choose to terminate their pregnancies. The discourse is shaped by an array of personal, religious, cultural and other social beliefs that differ from community to community. Research shows that access to free post-abortion services is further complicated for women, especially young women, by privacy concerns, the negative attitudes of institutional service providers, and stigma.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how African American female band directors create and utilize counterspaces for African American female musicians to share collective and individual experiences, maintain involvement, form positive self-definitions about themselves, and to counter intersecting forms of oppression in bands. In this study, I also examined the African American female band directors’ perceptions about counterspaces in bands. To illuminate the experiences of the 17 African American female band directors who participated in this study and their use of counterspaces as an activist response to resist intersecting forms of oppression perpetuated within the band world, Black feminist thought (BFT) as a framework was employed. The following research questions guided this study: (1) What are the African American female band directors’ perceptions and knowledge about counterspaces, and how do they utilize counterspaces to counter intersecting forms of oppression that African American female musicians face in bands?; (2) How do the African American female band directors utilize counterspaces to help the African American female band students form positive self-definitions about themselves, and to share their individual and collective experiences of involvement in bands?; and (3) How do counterspaces help African American female band directors understand common themes in the lives of African American female musicians that contribute to their sustained involvement in bands? The findings of this study revealed that counterspaces are essential for countering the perpetuation of intersecting forms of oppression and negative stereotypical images of African American females. This study further revealed that counterspaces functions as a mechanism where African American female band directors are able to foster the interconnected dimensions of self-definitions, collective and self-empowerment, and oppositional consciousness among their respective African American female band students. This study also provided insight into the current status of African American females within the field of instrumental music education in the U.S and dimensions of power structures that are continuously perpetuated to negate African American female’s equal stance within the field.