On October 12, 2019, twenty-eight-year-old Atatiana Jefferson was shot by police officer Aaron Dean in her own home. Jefferson’s murder is yet another case of unwarranted, lethal violence perpetrated by a white police officer against a black civilian.
This film takes place in 2006, at the height of over-surveillance of Arab and Muslim communities in a post 9/11 United States and gives viewers a much-needed view into the inner life of a Muslim American teen girl.
DuVernay’s artful depiction of Linda Fairstein — prosecutor and head of the sex crimes unit of the Manhattan District Attorney’s office at the time of the Central Park Five case — exposes the process through which white women’s pain can be used as a pawn for white patriarchy.
On February 20, Smollett was charged with his first felony, for filling out a false police report, and on March 8, he was indicted on 16 counts of making false statements to the police.
In light of the Women's Media Center's brand new report evaluating the impact of #MeToo, Ashley Judd — Chair of the WMC Speech Project and one of the instigators of the #MeToo movement — spoke to Women Under Siege's Lauren Wolfe about her role in the movement, what #MeToo has accomplished, and what it will still accomplish in the future.
Dr. Blasey Ford herself has largely been seen as credible, which in turn appears to be a sign of cultural progress. Yet the public narrative that has been maintained about perpetrators has not progressed in tandem with this evolved view of survivors.
The United States incarcerates more women than any other nation. Why? The majority of have been detained for nonviolent crimes, including prostitution, deemed a public-order offense.
In early May, a 19-year-old girl named Noura Hussein was sentenced to death by a court in Sudan. The verdict came after Hussein killed her husband, whom she was forced to marry at 15 and who allegedly raped her.
On May 10, Spotify announced it will essentially act as an omniscient curator of the music of two problematic (if not criminal) artists: R. Kelly and XXXTentacion. Both of the artists’ music will still be available on the service, but Spotify will no longer actively promote their work.
In early May, Kim Kardashian West made headlines for her attempts to ask White House officials to advocate for a presidential pardon for 62-year-old Alice Marie Johnson. While this case is certainly worthy of attention, her advocacy generally overlooks the fundamental problems of racism and prosecutorial discretion within the criminal justice system.
Prout has been an activist and advocate ever since she was sexually assaulted by a student at the elite prep school St. Paul’s in 2014. She has since launched the hashtag and movement #IHaveTheRightTo. This month, Prout published a memoir: I Have The Right To: A High School Survivor’s Story of Sexual Assault, Justice, and Hope.
On April 26, 2018, the provincial court of Navarra, Spain, ruled that five men had not raped a Spanish woman, but sexually abused her. Under Spanish law, sexual abuse is a crime that does not use intimidation or violence, and therefore warrants a lesser sentence than does rape.
The first day of the retrial resulted in a 10.5-hour jury deliberation, but failed to result in a verdict. But on the second, Cosby was found guilty on all three counts of sexual assault. While the judge has not yet set a date to sentence Cosby, each of the counts is punishable by up to ten years in state prison.
Joe Arpaio, according to Trump, was the one cheated and attacked by the criminal justice system — not his victims.
Detroit, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, takes place in the midst of the infamous 12th Street riot, which was sparked after the police raided an unlicensed club for African-American veterans in 1967....
Ava DuVernay has never been afraid to bring issues like race, the unjust U.S. “justice” system, mass incarceration, and the criminalization of African-Americans and other PoC to the forefront of her films. From the Oscar-winning film Selma to the highly acclaimed 2016 Netflix documentary 13th, DuVernay has examined how the criminal justice system is actively used as an oppressive tactic to repress and discriminate against the Black population....