Introduction

Kim Barker is Professor of Law at the University of York (UK). She is an internationally recognised expert on technology-facilitated violence against women (TFVAWG) and her work has informed parliamentary debates, international reports, policymaking and legal developments in the UK, Europe, and internationally. She has advised a range of organisations, including the Council of Europe, governments, tech companies and NGOs internationally, on issues relating to TFVAWG, online violence, and platform regulation. Her research has been funded by RAi, ESRC, EPSRC and UKRI. Kim is an award-winning academic (Zero Tolerance 2020, AI Impact Awards 2026).

Dr Helen O’Shea is a Senior Lecturer in History with the Open University in Scotland. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and the Royal Historical Society, and her research has been funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the British Academy, the Leverhulme Trust and the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

A translated author, her research spans modern Irish, British and imperial history, including twentieth-century colonial warfare and the history of women’s workplace struggles in Scotland. She has also served as academic lead for several BBC–Open University co-productions, including BBC Scotland’s Women Who Changed Modern Scotland with Kirsty Wark and BBC Two’s Union series with David Olusoga.

Her current research examines emergency law and order in the post-Second World War British Empire and its consequences for civil liberties. Alongside this, she has a strong interest in higher education policy, particularly student access, retention and progression, with a focus on under-represented adult learners and unpaid carers.

Talat Yaqoob FRSE is an award-winning campaigner, writer, and consultant who has worked on systems and policy change on a range of issues including women’s rights, migrant’s rights, anti-poverty, anti-racism and intersectionality.
 
She was previously the director of a national organisation focused on women’s equality in the workplace. She has a background in social research, training and development, campaign strategy and public participation in policy and democratic transformation. She is the founder of Pass the Mic, a national programme to tackle under-representation and misrepresentation of women of colour in media and influencing.
 
In 2014, she co-founded the cross-party campaign group Women 50:50, advocating for fair representation of women across politics. In 2019 she was presented with the “outstanding women of Scotland” award, and in 2021 she was appointed co-chair of the First Minister’s National Advisory Council on Women and Girls. She is a media commentator on political and social issues, and has been a board member and chair for a number of charities focused on equality and international development.