The University of the West Indies

Dr. Halimah DeShong

Dr. Halimah DeShong is Senior Lecturer and University Director of the Institute for Gender & Development Studies (IGDS) at The University of the West Indies (UWI). She was previously Head of IGDS, Nita Barrow Unit at The UWI, Cave Hill Campus. An experienced feminist researcher and former Vincentian Ambassador to the UN, Dr DeShong specialises in sexual and gendered violence, feminist methodologies, anti-colonial feminisms, and qualitative research. She is the co-editor of the books Methodologies in Caribbean Research on Gender & Sexuality (2021); COVID-19 and the Caribbean Volumes 1&2 (2023); and five special issues of academic journals on Feminist Methodologies; Men and Masculinities; and Gender, Sexuality and Feminism in the Caribbean. In addition, she has authored numerous academic papers and technical reports; written and reviewed gender-based violence action plans and gender policies; designed curriculum on gender relations and gender-based violence for postsecondary institutions; created operational guidelines on gender and climate resilience; and was lead researcher and author of the qualitative component of the UN Women/CARICOM/Caribbean Development Bank prevalence study on violence against women in Grenada. An award-winning researcher, Halimah was most recently recipient of the 2024/2025 Principal’s Award for Excellence in Research and Public Service at The UWI, Cave Hill Campus.

 

Education

PhD, Sociology of Gender and Violence – University of Manchester

MPhil Social Policy – The University of the West Indies

BA History with Literatures in English (First Class Honours & Valedictorian) – The University of the West Indies

PGCUTL – The University of the West Indies

Research Interests: 
  • Sexual and Gendered Violence
  • Anti-colonial/anti-racist Feminism
  • Feminist Methodologies
  • Caribbean Men and Masculinities Studies
  • Qualitative Research (with emphasis on the analysis of talk and text)
  • Gender and climate change

 

Outreach interests

  • Sexual and Gendered Violence Policies, Laws and Actions
  • Gender Policies and Critical Approaches to Gender Mainstreaming
  • Gender Analysis Training and Capacity Building
  • Curriculum Development and Workshop Delivery
Publications: 

Books: 

  • Roberts, Sherma, DeShong, Halimah A.F., Grenade, Wendy and Dwayne Devonish. Interdisciplinary Perspectives on COVID-19 and the Caribbean, Vol 2: Society, Education and Human Behaviour. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2023. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31119-2
  • Kempadoo, Kamala and DeShong, Halimah A.F. (Eds.) Methodologies in Caribbean Research on Gender & Sexuality. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers, 2021. ISBN: 978-976-637-989-6

 

  • Roberts, Sherma, DeShong, Halimah A.F., Grenade, Wendy and Dwayne Devonish. Interdisciplinary Perspectives on COVID-19 and the Caribbean, Vol 1: The State, Economy and Health. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2023. doi.org/10.1007/9

 

Guest Editorship (Special Issues of Academic Journals

  • Haynes, Tonya, DeShong, Halimah A.F. and Baldwin, Andrea. “Fresh: Urgent Voices from the Caribbean.” In Frontiers: A Journal of Women’s Studies Vol. 45, Issue 2 (In Print 2024) (Journal Impact Factor 1.7 – Web of Science). ISSN 0160-9009
  • DeShong, Halimah A.F. (Guest Editor). “Gender, Sexuality and Feminism in the Caribbean: Transdisciplinary Engagements.” Part II Journal of Eastern Caribbean Studies 45 No. 2. 2019. (In Print, 2021) (10 pieces, including the Introduction/Guest Editor’s Note, 7 articles and 1 commentary). ISSN 1028-8813
  • DeShong, Halimah A.F. and Charmaine Crawford. (Guest Editors) “Gender, Sexuality and Feminism in the Caribbean: Transdisciplinary Engagements.” Part I Journal of Eastern Caribbean Studies Vol. 42 No. 3, 2017 (Print) (7 articles). ISSN 1028-8813
  • Crichlow, Wesley, Halimah A.F. Deshong and Linden, Lewis (Guest Editors).  Special Issue: “Fragility and Persistence of Dominant Masculinities.” In Caribbean Review of Gender Studies. Issue 8, December 2014. (Print) (9 articles)

 

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

  • DeShong, Halimah A.F. “Gendered Violence and Gender as a Site of Violence: Reflections from the Caribbean” Frontiers: A Journal of Women’s Studies Vol. 45, Issue 2, 2024 (79-101) (In Print) (Journal Impact Factor 1.7 – Web of Science) doi.org/10.1353/fro.2024.a935657
  • Haynes, Tonya, DeShong, Halimah A.F. and Andrea Baldwin. “Fresh.” Frontiers: A Journal of Women’s Studies Vol. 45, Issue 2, 2024 (ix-xiv) (In Print) (Journal Impact Factor 1.7 – Web of Science) doi.org/10.1353/fro.2024.a935653
  • DeShong, Halimah A.F. “Gender, Sexuality and Feminism in the Caribbean: Transdisciplinary Engagements.” Part II Journal of Eastern Caribbean Studies 45 No. 2. 2019, 1-11. (Print, 2021). ISSN 1028-8813
  • DeShong, Halimah A.F. “The Will to Forget”: Silences and Minimisations in Men’s Talk on Violence.” Journal of Eastern Caribbean Studies Vol. 42 No.3, 2017, 86-102. (Print) ISSN 1028-8813
  • DeShong, Halimah A.F. and Charmaine Crawford. “Introduction: Gender, Sexuality and Feminism in the Caribbean: Transdisciplinary Engagements.” Journal of Eastern Caribbean Studies Vol. 42 No. 3, 2017, 1-6. (Print). ISSN 1028-8813
  • Haynes, Tonya and Halimah A.F. DeShong. “Queering Feminist Approaches to Gender-based Violence.” Social and Economic Studies, Vol 66, No. 1 & 2. 2017, 105-131. (Print) ISSN: 0037-7651
  • DeShong, Halimah A.F. and Tonya Haynes. “Intimate Partner Violence in the Caribbean: State, Activist and Media Responses” Global Public Health (Journal Impact Factor 2.017 – Web of Science) (Routledge: Taylor & Francis) Vol. 11, Iss 1-2. 2016, 82-94. (Print) doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2015.1012529
  • DeShong, Halimah A.F. “Policing Femininity, Affirming Masculinity: Relationship Violence, Control and Spatial Limitations.” Journal of Gender Studies (Journal Impact Factor 0.918 – Web of Science) (Routledge: Taylor & Francis) Vol. 24, No. 1, 2015. 85-103. (Print) doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2013.833087
  • Crichlow, Wesley, DeShong, Halimah A.F. and Lewis, Linden. “Vulnerability, Persistence and Destabilization of Dominant Masculinities: An Introduction.” Special Issue on Vulnerability, Persistence and Destabilization of Dominant Masculinities, Caribbean Review of Gender Studies, Iss.8, December 2014, 1-15. (Print). ISSN 1995-1108
  • DeShong, Halimah A.F. “Feminist Reflexive Interviewing: Researching Violence against Women in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.” Special Issue on Caribbean Feminist Research Methods for Gender and Sexuality Studies, Caribbean Review of Gender Studies, Iss.7, 2013: 1-24. (Print)
  • Kempadoo, Kamala and DeShong, Halimah A.F. “Caribbean Feminist Research Methods: An Editorial Note.” Caribbean Review of Gender Studies, Special Issue on Caribbean Feminist Research Methods for Gender and Sexuality Studies, Iss.7, 2013, 1-5. (Print).
  • DeShong, Halimah A.F. “Exploring Women’s Reports of Sexual Violence and Control in Heterosexual Relationships.” GEXcel, Vol. XII, 33-47, University of Linköping and University of Örebro, 2012. (Print)
  • DeShong, Halimah A.F. “Gender, Sexuality and Sexual Violence: A Feminist Analysis of Vincentian Women’s Experiences in Violent Heterosexual Relationships.” Journal of Eastern Caribbean Studies Vol. 36 No. 2, 2011: 65-96. (Print). ISSN 1028-8813

 

Refereed Chapters in Books

  • DeShong, Halimah A.F. “Mock Trials and Effigy Hangings as a Community Responses to Sexual Violence against Girls in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.” In Gender Based Violence in the Caribbean: Historical Roots, Contemporary Continuities. Edited by Bean, Dalea and Shepherd Verene. UWI Press (Accepted/Forthcoming)
  • DeShong, Halimah A.F. “In the Shadow’ of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Naming Gendered Violence in the Era of a Global Health Crisis.” In Interdisciplinary Perspectives on COVID-19 and the Caribbean, Vol. 2: Society, Education and Human Behaviour. Edited by Roberts, Sherma, DeShong, Halimah A.F., Grenade, Wendy and Dwayne Devonish. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2023. 11-30. doi.org/10.1007/9
  • Roberts, Sherma, Devonish, Dwayne, Grenade, Wendy and DeShong, Halimah A.F. “Introduction.” In Interdisciplinary Perspectives on COVID-19 and the Caribbean, Volume 1: The State, Economy and Health. Edited by Roberts, Sherma, DeShong, Halimah A.F., Grenade, Wendy and Dwayne Devonish. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2023. 3-11. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-30889-5_1
  • Grenade, Wendy, DeShong, Halimah A.F. Roberts, Sherma and Devonish, Dwayne. “Introduction.” In Interdisciplinary Perspectives on COVID-19 and the Caribbean, Volume 2: Society, Education and Human Behaviour. Edited by Roberts, Sherma, DeShong, Halimah A.F., Grenade, Wendy and Dwayne Devonish. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2023. 3-10. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31119-2_1
  • DeShong, Halimah A.F. Devonish, Dwayne, Grenade, Wendy C. and Roberts, Sherma. “Afterword: Re-Imagining Caribbean Futures Post-COVID-19.” In Interdisciplinary Perspectives on COVID-19 and the Caribbean, Volume 1 & Volume 2. Edited by Roberts, Sherma, DeShong, Halimah A.F., Grenade, Wendy and Dwayne Devonish. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2023. 551-561 and 545-555. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31119-2_24
  • DeShong, Halimah A.F. “CARICOM Model Legislation on Domestic Violence: Negotiating Love, Intimacy and Abuse in Caribbean Law.” In Caribbean Integration: Uncertainty in a Time of Global Fragmentation. Edited by Patsy Lewis, Terri-Ann Gilbert and Jessica Byron. Kingston: The University of the West Indies Press. 2022: 224-238. ISBN: 9766408998
  • DeShong, Halimah A.F. “Caribbean/Anti-Colonial Feminist Methods for Analysing Talk and Text in Research on Gender-Based Violence.” In Methodologies in Caribbean Research on Gender & Sexuality. Edited by Kamala Kempadoo and Halimah A.F. DeShong. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers, 2021: 449-462. ISBN: 978-976-637-989-6 
  • DeShong, Halimah A.F. and Kamala Kempadoo. “Locating Methodologies in Caribbean Research on Gender and Sexuality.” In Methodologies in Caribbean Research on Gender & Sexuality. Edited by Kamala Kempadoo and Halimah A.F. DeShong. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers, 2021: 1-26. ISBN: 978-976-637-989-6
  • Marshall, Don D. Lashley, Jonathan and Deshong, Halimah A.F. “Living in the Present: Caribbean Youth Not in Education, Not in Employment and Not in Training.” In Masculinity in the Caribbean: Why Does It Matter. Edited by Laurence Telson, Cynthia Marie Hobbs, Maria Jose Flor Agreda and Leslie Hunter. Washington: Inter-American Development Bank. 2019. pp.117-176.
  • DeShong, Halimah A.F. “The Language of Violence in the Caribbean: A Decolonial Feminist Analysis.” In Caribbean Crime & Criminal Justice: Impacts of Post-Colonialism and Gender on Crime. Edited Katharina J. Joosen and Corin Bailey. London: Routledge, 2018: 123-138. (Print) ISBN: 9781315403786
  • DeShong, Halimah A.F. “Gendered Discourses of Romantic Love/ing and Violence.” Doing Gender, Doing Love: Interdisciplinary Voices, Ed. Serena Petrella, Oxford: Inter-Disciplinary Press, 2014. 103-122. ISBN: 978-1-84888-273-7.
  • DeShong, Halimah A.F. “What Does It ‘Really’ Mean to Be a Wo/Man?: Narratives of Gender by Women and Men.” In Love and Power: Caribbean Discourses on Gender, 106-149.  Edited by Eudine Barriteau.  Kingston: University of the West Indies Press, 2012: 106-147. (Print). ISBN: 9789766402655.

 

Technical Reports, Toolkits, Action Plans & Manuals

  • DeShong, Halimah A.F. “Organizational Guideline for Mainstreaming Gender responsive Comprehensive Disaster Management and Climate Resilience into Policies and Operations of GRENCODA” USAID PROSE Project, January 2025. (36 pages)
  • DeShong, Halimah A.F. “Caribbean Development Renewal: A Reparatory Justice Research Project, Grenada Country Report,” January 2025. (78 Pages)
  • DeShong, Halimah. “Grenada Community Development Agency (GRENCODA): A Desk Review of Organizational Strategic Documents & Stakeholder Interviews.” Policy and Regulatory Reform for Resilience (PROSE), United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Project. 2024. (50 pages)
  • Robinson, Justin C. and DeShong, Halimah A.F. “Caribbean Development Renewal – A Reparatory Justice Research Project: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Country Report.” February 2023. (47 pages)
  • Worrell, Leigh-Ann, Weekes, Alana, Bobb, Daniele, DeShong, Halimah A.F. Gender and Inclusion Toolkit. Developed for T.A.L.E.N.T. Barbados, February 2023.
  • DeShong, Halimah A.F., Worrell, Leigh-Ann and Nelson, Asha. Understanding Gender-based Violence. Digital Enquirer Toolkit, Module 4, August 2022.
  • DeShong, Halimah A.F. and Mortley, Natasha. University of the West Indies (UWI). Training Manual for the UWI Gender Policy. August 2022 (28 pages).
  • DeShong, Halimah A.F. & Haynes, Tonya. “Gender Based Violence/Health and Family Life Programme for the Technical Institutes in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.” Government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the Caribbean Development Bank. 2020. (Report, Curriculum, Teacher’s Manual and Video).
  • Marshall, Don D., Lashley, Jonathan and DeShong, Halimah A.F. “Diagnostic of NEET Youth in the Caribbean.” Inter-American Development Bank. March 2019.
  • DeShong, Halimah A.F. Women’s Health and Life Experiences: A Qualitative Research Report on Violence Against Women in Grenada, 2018. United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (UN Women), 2020.  118 pages
  • https://caribbean.unwomen.org/en/materials/publications/2020/8/womens-health-and-life-experiences-a-qualitative-research-report-on-vaw-in-grenada-2018
  • Nicholson, Claudia and DeShong, Halimah A.F. Grenada Women and Life Experiences Study 2018 Report. Government of Grenada, The Caribbean Development Bank and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women). 2020, 168 pages
  • https://caribbean.unwomen.org/en/materials/publications/2020/8/grenada-womens-health-and-life-experiences-study-2018-report
  • DeShong, Halimah A.F. “St. Vincent and the Grenadines National Gender-Based Violence Action Plan.” Developed for the Gender Affairs Division of the Ministry of National Mobilisation, Social Development, Family, Gender Affairs, Persons with Disabilities and Youth, the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, with the Support of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) 2014. (58 pages)

 

Non-Refereed Academic Output

 

Current Projects:

  • DeShong, Halimah A.F. and Tonya Haynes. Rethinking Sexual and Gendered Violence in the Caribbean. (Single Authored Book)
  • DeShong, Halimah A.F. and Tonya Haynes. (Eds). Rethinking Sexual and Gendered Violence in the Caribbean.
  • Haynes, Tonya and DeShong, Halimah A.F. (Eds) Routledge Companion to Gender and Feminist Studies in the Caribbean. London: Routledge (Under Contract)