Dr. Shuchi Karim is a Bangladeshi Canadian academic and researcher. She completed her PhD at the Institute of Social Studies (ISS), The Hague, The Netherlands, specializing in Women, Gender and Development with a focus on sexualities. Dr. Karim’s career is a combination of development work, academia and activism-specializing in interdisciplinary studies of gender and development, feminism, women’s rights, education, and sexuality. With over twenty-five years of diverse experiences in evidence-based program design, training and advocacy in field of gender and development, publications in peer reviewed journals, book chapters, encyclopedias and research reports. Before coming to Canada in 2019, she worked at multiple academic and development institutions including the Institute of Educational Development of BRAC University (Bangladesh);Department of English and Humanities of BRAC University; Department of Women and Gender studies, Dhaka University; International Institute of Social Studies (ISS),NL; Radboud University, Nijmegen, NL; In Canada, she worked as a faculty member at the Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies, Western University; and has been with Carleton’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology since 2021. At Carleton, she currently teaches courses in feminist theories and practices, gender and society, women and health, sex and sexualities in the department of Sociology and Anthropology.
Dr. Karim was also the Project Director of the research initiative ‘Placement, Preservation, and Perseverance: Afghan at Risk Scholars, Activists and Students’, funded by IDRC(2022-2024),a collaboration between Carleton University and the University of British Columbia. The focus of the project was supporting Afghan at-risk scholars, activists, and journalists who were forced to flee Afghanistan due to the 2021 crisis, with special attention given to vulnerable groups, such as women and ethnic minorities. The project created opportunities for future knowledge networks in the Afghan scholarly diaspora. Furthermore, it investigated and assessed how Canadian higher education institutions can be better prepared and more responsive to receiving and supporting at-risk scholars, activists, and students in times of crises in various countries worldwide. Dr. Karim is a passionate advocate for scholar activism and academic freedom.
Selected Publications:
PhD Thesis:
Karim, S. (2012, December 11). Living Sexualities: Negotiating Heteronormativity in Middle Class Bangladesh. ISS PhD Theses. Erasmus University Rotterdam. https://repub.eur.nl/pub/38054/
Journal Articles:
Karim, S., 2021. Pleasure, prohibition and pretence: single middle class women negotiating heteronormativity in Bangladesh. Culture, Health & Sexuality, pp.1-14. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/353560620_Pleasure_prohibition_and_pretence_single_middle_class_women_negotiating_heteronormativity_in_Bangladesh
Ahsan, Sairana & Karim, Shuchi & Biswas, Subas & Rashid, Sabina. (2021). Knotted Realities Understanding What Delays Early and Child Marriage for Girls in Urban Slums of Bangladesh; https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350813846_Knotted_Realities_Understanding_What_Delays_Early_and_Child_Marriage_for_Girls_in_Urban_Slums_of_Bangladesh
Biswas, S.C., Karim, S. and Rashid, S.F., 2020. Should we care: a qualitative exploration of the factors that influence the decision of early marriage among young men in urban slums of Bangladesh. BMJ open, 10(10), p.e039195. https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/10/10/e039195.full.pdf
Karim, S., 2014. Erotic desires and practices in cyberspace: “Virtual reality” of the non-heterosexual middle class in Bangladesh. Gender, Technology and Development, 18(1), pp.53-76. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269601146_Erotic_Desires_and_Practices_in_Cyberspace_Virtual_Reality_of_the_Non-Heterosexual_Middle_Class_in_Bangladesh
Karim, S. 2004, Gendered Marginalization of Disabled Bodies: Understanding ‘Marginalization as the most dangerous form of oppression’, BRAC University Journal, Vol. II, Number 1. https://dspace.bracu.ac.bd/xmlui/handle/10361/6568?show=full
Karim, S. 2004, Exploring the Household Compositions of Female Sex-workers in Brothels: Daulatdia, A Case Study, 2004, BRAC University Journal, Volume. I, Number 1, 2004 (ISSN 1811-3079), http://hdl.handle.net/10361/498
Chapters in Books:
Karim, Shuchi. 2023, “Politics of identities: Problematics of categories, labels and languages in LGBTQI+ movement in Bangladesh.” Gender, Sexuality and Social Justice. Routledge 165-186. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429439483-11/politics-identities-shuchi-karim
Karim, S. 2018, Heterosexual profession, Lesbian practices: How sex workers’ sexuality right positions through intersection of sexuality, gender and class within the hierarchy of LGBTQ movement in Bangladesh in Hussein, N edited, Rethinking New Womanhood: Practices of Gender, Class, Culture and Religion in South Asia, Palgrave Macmillan. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-67900-6
Karim, Shuchi. 2016. “Invisible women: Education, employment and citizenship of women with disabilities in Bangladesh.” Disrupting Adult and Community Education: Teaching, Learning, and Working in the Periphery edited by Robert C. Mizzi, Tonnette Rocco, and Sue Shore, 117-132. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
Karim, S. 2012, Living Sexualities: Non-Heterosexual Women and Sexuality in Urban Middle Class Bangladesh, in Helic and Hoodfar edited Sexuality in Muslim Contexts: Restrictions and Resistances, ZedBooks, London. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281293662_Sexuality_in_Muslim_Contexts_Restrictions_and_Resistance
Karim, S. 2011, Unheard Voices: War Experiences of Bihari Women in Bangladesh, in Mohsin and Ahmed edited Women and Militancy: South Asian Complexities, University Press Limited, Dhaka, Bangladesh. https://www.amazon.com/Women-Militancy-Amena-Mohsin/dp/9845060285
Encyclopedia, study reports and other publications:
Karim, S. (2020), Women and Sexualities: the troubles of discussing women’s sexual rights, in Shuddhashar, August 1, 2020 / Issue 20, LGBTIQ+, Magazine. https://shuddhashar.com/women-and-sexualities-the-troubles-of-discussing-womens-sexual-rights-dr-shuchi-karim/
Karim, S. (2019), “Sex Tourism in Asia: Status and Impact of LGBT Tourism in Asia” in the Global Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer History.
Karim, S (2016), Background Paper for Youth Week, SHARENET, Netherlands, Comprehensive Sexuality Education and Youth Friendly Health Services: Overview, Interlinkages, Gaps, and Research Questions.
Karim, S. (2016), Involvement of Male in menstrual Hygiene management (MHM) for RITU, Menstrual Hygiene Management project, Bangladesh by SIMAVI (NL), RedOrange (Bangladesh) and TNO (NL) funded by the Netherlands Embassy, https://www.share-netbangladesh.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Annex-4_Study-on-male-involvement.pdf
February 2016, Research Consultant, Understanding the Identity of Hijra: outside the shadow lines, by BONDHU Social Welfare Society, Bangladesh , a Report submitted for National Human Rights Commission of Bangladesh
Karim, S. 2015, Mobility, Violence, Social Interactions, and Gender Norms, in Amin, S. (ed). 2015. Urban adolescents need assessment survey in Bangladesh. Dhaka: BIED, BRACU and Population Council. https://www.popcouncil.org/uploads/pdfs/2015PGY_BRAC-AdolSurveyReport.pdf
Karim, S. 2012, Sexualities: Practices, Bangladesh, in Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures, Brill Online Reference Works. https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/db/ewio
Karim, S. 2008, Sexual violence against women with disabilities: Risks and Rights, in Disability and Human Rights in Bangladesh, Action Aid, Bangladesh, Action on Disability and Development and European Union, Bangladesh
Karim, S. 2007, Gendered Violence in Education: Realities for Adolescent Girls in Bangladesh, Action Aid, Bangladesh, http://newarrivals.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding.aspx?bid=13200708