Did you have a burning question you didn’t get to make at the conference?
Did you have an insightful comment on the tip of your tongue that time simply didn’t permit?
Well then, here’s your forum! We offer this space to all our conference attendees to question, comment, consider…
The floor is yours!!!
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I think everyone will agree with me that having Shary Boyle present and elaborate on her extraordinary art was the most inspiring and liberating way to conclude the Jane Doe conference. I can’t find the words to thank you, Shary!
Shary’s art is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It’s striking and real and incredibly powerful. As you know, Shary illustrated The Story of Jane Doe. I remember reading the book and coming back to the images over and over again, because they captured women’s stories, our stories, in a profound and unforgettable way.
Here is Shary’s fabulous website http://www.sharyboyle.com/.
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The following are the thoughts of Miriam, the moderator of the Student Roundtable that took place during the conference. Feel free to add your thoughts and comments below.
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I had the pleasure to moderate the student roundtable at the Jane Doe conference, and I would like to tell you all about my experience. I was very pleasantly surprised that so many amazing women showed up to share their experiences about learning sexual assault law in law school. We literally filled every seat and that tells me that the women who participated really wanted and needed to share their stories about their experiences. Each woman shared her invaluable experience about how she was, or wasn’t, taught sexual assault law in law school, and thereby greatly enriched the discussion. It will come as no great surprise that we determined that there are many pressing problems and issues in how sexual assault is being dealt with, or not being dealt Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Canadian law school, roundtable
Here are some of their favorite marching slogans that participants shared with us yesterday. Please add more!
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In this morning’s first session, Diana Yaros asked us “where has all the anger gone?” Her presentation described what I would call a slippage in feminist advocacy - or maybe a shift from grassroots, by women, for women activism to a professional approach to violence against women. To be honest I wasn’t feeling all that angry myself… until I attended the session on policing sexual assault.
So if you need a refreshing dose of anger – here’s what inspired my rage this morning:
Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: anger, feminism, lying, policing, revictimization, wrongful unfounding
Hope has been brought up often enough throughout this conference. Pleas for hope and for change at the podium and encouraging words like the ones I heard this morning.
After talking about the racialisation of sexual assault by the state, an elder spoke of her own hope, keeping us in our seats, attentively listening to everything she had to say, despite our growling stomachs, which were testament to the approaching meal (delicious soup and sandwiches, that were enjoyed soon after).
She spoke of her hope and the power and importance in naming your experiences. Her experience in residential schools had a profound impact, and despite the absolute devastation they have caused, she holds onto the hope that strong women like herself can be a source of strength for younger generations of women. That by looking at these strong independent women survivors that they see hope.
I cling to this hope; A hope for change. A hope so important because without it we would be drowned in the depressing statistics, the shocking cases, and womens continued oppression vis à vis the law.
so here’s to hope!
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Tags: hope, residential school
A speaker at the Aboriginal Women’s Panel today spoke of being “born into rape”. Of the horrifying legacy of colonization - of multiple forms of violence permeating the existence of entire communities over generations – of the “institutional rape” – by the government, by the church – policies and actions that distorted and trampled their culture, systematically took from them their home, their language, their very identity and sense of self. This is history, so very recent. Is it then so hard to see where violence against indigenous women and children comes from and how it is generated in a self-perpetuating cycle? Why is this consistently overlooked/dismissed/denied by so many people to this day? Why do so many systemic responses consistently fail to reflect an understanding of the past and a will to change the future?
But wait, this post does NOT end on that hopeless note. I was literally blown away by all the amazingly strong Aboriginal women of all ages who attended this conference. Real progress is being made, because they and women like them continue to break the silence and refuse to let their past determine their future.
I would like to thank all the women who shared their stories and true wisdom with us today. A special thank you to Jessica Yee, the director of the Native Youth Sexual Health Network, for sharing her profound understanding and knowledge, unlimited resourcefulness and an unstoppable determination to bring about fundamental and lasting change.
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I was struck by Natasha Bakht’s presentation examining the dynamics and implications of using demeanor assessment as a test for credibility with regard to victims of sexual assault. I find the fact that Muslim women are routinely asked to remove their veil in order to observe their demeanor during testimony deeply disturbing and completely outrageous.
As Professor Bakht explained, this practice sends a clear message to Muslim women that they need not report violence, unless they are willing to choose between their very identity and fair access to the criminal justice system. (And it is important to understand that this issue has nothing to do with what one thinks the implications of wearing a veil in Canada to be.)
To me, this is yet another example of the voyeuristic desire to put the Other under a microscope, while remaining willfully blind to serious problems inherent in our justice system. Such as, for instance, the persisting presumption that a woman reporting sexual assault is likely to be lying. Watch that nervous twitch and that downward gaze and it’ll all make sense! (As Jane Doe said, maybe women should be made to testify naked to make sure they have nothing to hide…) Read the rest of this entry »
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I was very impressed with Erin Stevens’ presentation of her paper Progress without results: Are international criminal tribunals discouraging victim participation in international prosecutions of sexual violence? One of the issues explored was the link between international and domestic approaches to sexual assault.
Under international criminal law, it is much easier for victims to prove sexual assault, because rape is recognized as a weapon of war, which generally makes consent a non-issue in the prosecution. In contrast, in the domestic context, rape is seen as an individualized crime. Our domestic criminal justice system fails to recognize the systemic dimensions of sexual violence against women. For one, “honest, but mistaken belief in consent” continues to be widely misused as an available defence.
Erin questions the disconnect evident from the fact that while international criminal law unequivocally recognizes rape as a weapon of war, our domestic justice system still refuses to see rape for what it is - a “weapon of patriarchy and subordination” in times of peace.
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I would greatly appreciate any comments or links to sources exploring issues around sexual violence towards women with disabilities. Fran Odette’s presentatition highlighted that this topic is deplorably under-researched despite the staggering statistics attesting to the extremely high rates of sexual violence experienced by disabled women. It is also often ignored that violence, and sexual violence in particular, is often the cause of disability. In Fran’s words, disabled women are “devalued, desexualized and discounted” every step of the way and continuously face multiple layers of oppression. For an overview of the particular vulnerabilities faced by women with disabilities, see Family Violence against Women with Disabilities.
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A personal and political feminist narrative orchestrated in multiple voices. This blog takes place at the Sexual Assault Law, Practise and Activism in a Post-Jane Doe Era Conference–more affectionately known as–”The Jane Doe Conference”. This blog is inspired by Jane Doe–and all of the Jane Doe’s–and is an accounting of sorts of the presentations and discussions that will take place at this event from March 4-7, 2009.
AnastasiaAnastasia is a University of Ottawa law student with a concentration in social justice. She is interested in international human rights and equality law, as well as the intersection of family law and criminal law with regard to issues surrounding family violence.
EmmaEmma is a bilingual student at the University of Ottawa who loves fashion, cooking and foreign languages. She is currently pursuing her studies in Women Studies and Political Science. She is particularly interested in the issue of womens sexual oppression.
ErinErin has worked as an associate producer for CBC TV and radio and also slogged it out in the freelance world, working on social issue documentaries. Tired of just telling the stories of other people taking action, Erin returned to law school and still clings to the hope that she will be able to change the world when she graduates.
A feminist collective, mixing voices from the bloggers, speakers and others at the conference.
