Readers of the IJFAB blog will be aware that the 2024 FAB conference has been facing some unprecedented difficulties. A bit of background: Because FAB arose out of a special interest group on feminist bioethics within IAB, for many years now, it has held its own conference in association with the World Congress. Naturally, this means that the FAB conference is held in the same location as the WCB. In 2022, the International Association of Bioethics agreed to hold the 17th World Congress of Bioethics in Doha, Qatar. This was done without consulting the leadership of FAB.
The choice of Qatar as host country has prompted some strong reactions and concerns among bioethicists, some of whom have argued, for example, that a bioethics congress should not be held in a country with such a poor record on human rights, women’s rights, and the rights of migrant labor. Others have been concerned about the environmental impact both of the venue itself, and of so many bioethicists flying to Qatar to attend. FAB was, and is, particularly sensitive to concerns about giving support to a regime in which women are denied equal civil status. The question of whether FAB should go ahead with holding its conference alongside the WCB in Qatar was discussed at an Extraordinary General Meeting called in 2022. Here, the debate centered on the question of whether the best way to engage with Qatar’s stance on these important issues was to boycott the conference, or alternatively to discuss these questions openly in Doha. It is worth noting that we sought (and received) a guarantee that the conference would have full academic freedom, i.e., the ability to discuss any topic we wanted to. The democratic vote of the FAB membership was in favor of continuing to plan for a FAB gathering in Doha on 2-3 June 2024.
One key set of concerns expressed by many bioethicists, including FAB members, is Qatar’s record on discrimination against gay, lesbian, transgender, and genderqueer people, in law and in practice. Some FAB members have expressed concerns about their own safety if they were to attend the conference in Qatar. The organizers of the WCB, and we two as organizers of the FAB conference, were given reassurances by the Qatari organizing committee that LGBTQI+ attendees would be safe within the area of the conference itself. However, the organizers were unable to give similar reassurances about conference attendees venturing outside into Doha or elsewhere.
Many of you by now will be aware that in late February, a British-Mexican gay man was arrested after what appears to have been a catfishing operation by the Qatari police on the Grindr app. According to his family, Manuel Guerrero Aviña is being held in prison without access to the anti-HIV medication he needs. This is far from the first such case, and exemplifies Qatar’s attitude to LGBTQI+ lives. Although not all the facts of this story are yet available, it has raised the question for both IAB and FAB of an appropriate response. Given that the conference is just three months away, and that – as we had hoped – many women academics from the region have had abstracts accepted, we as FAB co-coordinators believe it is more appropriate to continue with the conference. However, we also appreciate that following this arrest (and the longstanding pattern of harassment of LGBTQI+ people), some of our membership may at this point choose to withdraw, or not to register.
We are also aware that many people with accepted abstracts have not yet registered for the FAB conference. We understand that people are likely to feel very ambivalent at the moment. This creates both practical and ethical difficulties for us, as organizers of the conference. Put very practically: if you are in fact intending to be at the conference, whether in person or online, please do register NOW so that we have a better idea of the numbers we are planning for, and how to best organize time zones for those attending online. If you have decided not to attend because of concerns about the choice of host country, we understand this comes at a cost to you. As co-coordinators of FAB, we continue to support all our membership, whichever decision they make. We welcome your comments here in the blog, or via email.
Best regards,
Jackie and Anna
FAB co-chairs
