In the context of the project Inclusion in Education for students with Disabilities (INEDIS), funded by the Austrian Development Cooperation, which involves the University of Vienna in Austria and Addis Ababa University, Dilla University and the University of Gondar in Ethiopia, different co-operations between the researchers involved emerged. One of the topics that is of major interest is gender based violence and education. Contrary to its commonness and impact gender based violence against girls and women with disabilities is hardly researched in international studies. Therefore the symposium is intended to provide a basis to further engage in discussions on the topic from different perspectives:

• Introduction: Intersection education, poverty, and gender-based violence

• Gender Based Violence and the impact on School Education (building on the Capability Approach)

• Exploring Gender Based Violence and the impact on Higher Education

• Experiences of Woman Students with Disabilities in Higher Education Institutions

The social categories of gender and disability are highly embedded in social structures and power relations in any social field as well as in education. They are highly linked to experiences of discrimination in and exclusion from education systems around the world. While in both areas international movements have been engaged in actions overcoming existing structures that lead to inequality in education based on gender or disability, they are often discussed separately. The research projects presented in this symposium therefore adopt an intersectional approach to gender and disability in the field of education.

Since the introduction of the concept of intersectionality by Crenshaw (1989) within Black feminism and Critical Race Theory, it has been used in various fields and in relation to different social categories. The concept is commonly used as a theoretical framework and analytical tool to critically analyse and change power relations and structures related to two or more social categories, e.g. gender, race, disability, migration, etc. (Carbado et al, 2013). Social categories are thereby conceptualized as socially constructed. The experiences related to the intersection of various social categories (e.g. gender and disability) not just sum up but give rise to specific power relations and social structures in any particular field (e.g. education). Research on gender-based violence against women with disabilities therefore has to take into account the complexity of the intersection of gender, disability and other social categories relevant to the specific social context (McCall, 2005). The research papers in this symposium all build on intersectional approaches to research gender based violence against women with disabilities in relation to education.

Carbado, D. W., Crenshaw, K. W., Mays, V. M., & Tomlinson, B. (2013). INTERSECTIONALITY. Mapping the Movements of a Theory. Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race, 10(02), 303–312. Crenshaw, K. W. (1989). Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1989, 139–168. McCall, L. (2005). The Complexity of Intersectionality. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 30(3), 1771–1800.