From the outset, CAEFS and CASAC advised all prospective participants that we would be privileging the disadvantaged equality-seeking groups and individual women and would therefore not be in a position to privilege those who are generally used to such treatment at other conferences.

Academics and more highly paid professionals, including government workers, were expected to utilize their relative privilege in terms of resources and communities of sponsorship and influence to facilitate their participation in the conference. Indeed, it was at the suggestion of some of these women that CAEFS and CASAC set the registration fee at $350, with a late fee of $450. Although we subsidized the registrations and expenses of 80% of the participants. The 20% who were in a position to pay registration fees contributed significantly to the ability of the conference to subsidize other conference participants.

In order to ensure that women were comfortable and accommodated at the conference, key support women were identified to provide 24-hour support, economic and social consideration and caucus space was reserved in advance for women in and from prisons and shelters, aboriginal and other racialized women, women from other countries, women with language barriers, lesbians and women with disabilities. Women were notified and prepared in advance of the conference in order to ensure that this support was provided as naturally and unobtrusively as possible throughout the conference. The overwhelming response of women who utilized these supports was that all assistance was provided with extreme care and women felt that they were treated with humanity, respect and dignity throughout the conference.

Fees for display space were similarly subsidized. Those with the means to pay for their space did, while a number of individuals and groups were invited to display their information and materials gratis, in order to ensure that the premium was placed upon the dissemination of important and relevant information for all conference participants.

In addition, in terms of the actual conference agenda, significant time and energy was devoted to recruiting and assisting women to develop and prepare their plenary and workshop presentations. This work ensured that the voices of women in and from prisons and anti-violence centres, as well as front-line workers from both fields, were represented on all plenary panels and in the majority of workshops.

In order to ensure that the interpretation would be as fluid and accurate as possible, significant time and energy was also devoted to ensuring that preparation materials were provided for translators. These included background documents and position papers, as well as a list of common language, terms, colloquialisms, jargon, street terms and acronyms. The development of these materials also facilitated the ongoing and very necessary pre-education work that was required by the two organizations with respect to developing common terminology and contextualizing differential interpretations.