Engaging #MeToo: Marginalized Voices sin the Campaign to End Sexual Harassment & Violence

The #MeToo campaign, founded 20 years ago by activist Tarana Burke, has recently reignited a global conversation about sexual harassment and violence against women. Yet despite this watershed moment, advocates contend that many perspectives continue to be marginalized or omitted from the conversation, including those of women and girls of color, migrants, and low-income workers. This panel seeks to engage the #MeToo conversation by exploring the power dynamics at the root of sexual harassment and assault, by centering the perspectives of individuals and groups who have been agitating for change, and by articulating the need for intersectional feminist theorizing and interventions. Panelists will discuss what it will take to achieve accountability and lasting reform in the face of entrenched socio-economic inequalities, and will situate the #MeToo campaign in the context of the global struggle for gender rights, highlighting the need for transnational solidarities.

The participants are Linda Martín Alcoff (moderator), Professor of Philosophy, Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center; Joanne N. Smith, Hunter College School of Social Work ’03, Founder, Girls for Gender Equity; Nisha Varia, Advocacy Director, Women’s Rights Division, Human Rights Watch; and Vanessa Velasquez, Human Rights Program student, Roosevelt House and Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center Intern.

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