How Many More Women?: Exposing how the law silences women (IJURR Studies in Urban and Social Change Book Series)

**In this powerful and accessible exploration of our legal systems, two human rights lawyers break open the big judgments, developments and trends that have and continue to silence and disadvantage women.** HOW MANY MORE WOMEN __have to be raped or abused before we act?__ __need to accuse him before we believe her?__ __will be failed by the criminal justice system?__ __need to say something before we do something?__ __will be sued for defamation for speaking out?__ __will be contracted to silence?__ From two internationally acclaimed lawyers comes a masterful and urgent exploration of the legal response to the MeToo movement in Australia and around the world. We are in a crucial moment: women are breaking through the cultural reticence to speak out about gender-based violence. But as they have grown empowered to speak, a new form of systematic silencing has become more evident: the spike in survivors speaking out has been followed by a sp In this powerful and accessible exploration of our legal systems, two human rights lawyers break open the big judgments, developments and trends that have and continue to silence and disadvantage women. HOW MANY MORE WOMEN have to be raped or abused before we act? need to accuse him before we believe her? will be failed by the criminal justice system? need to say something before we do something? will be sued for defamation for speaking out? will be contracted to silence? From two internationally acclaimed lawyers comes a masterful and urgent exploration of the legal response to the MeToo movement in Australia and around the world. We are in a crucial moment: women are breaking through the cultural reticence to speak out about gender-based violence. But as they have grown empowered to speak, a new form of systematic silencing has become more evident: the spike in survivors speaking out has been followed by a spike in legal actions against them and the media. The law is being wielded to reinforce the status quo of silence that existed before MeToo. We cannot act if we do not know. If women cannot speak about their abuse - and journalists are fearful of telling their stories - then how can we understand the problem of gender-based violence in our society? And how can we even begin to end it? In How Many More Women? Jennifer Robinson and Keina Yoshida examine the laws around the world that silence women, and explore the changes we need to make to ensure that women's freedoms are no longer threatened by the legal system that is supposed to protect them. 'Witty, gritty, insightful and true, this book is essential reading for all women. Robinson and Yoshida lay down the law, on law, in an accessible way, giving us the ammunition we need, not just to protect ourselves, but to go out there and win.' - Kathy Lette 'If anyone can change things, in court or through the pages of this powerful book, it is these two fearless feminist lawyers.' - Susie Alegre, author of Freedom to Think In this powerful and accessible exploration of our legal systems, two human rights lawyers break open the big judgments, developments and trends that have and continued to silence and disadvantage women. This book is about a movement. A movement made up of women and men around the world who are no longer afraid to speak out about violence, abuse, harassment, sexism, abuse of power, and patriarchy. A movement which started with the courage of a number of women in the media and advertising industries and has spread across countries, industries and social class. This movement has uncovered the global scale of gender discrimination, sexual abuse and exploitation which women and girls face. As the years have passed, the movement has grown - with peaks of activity coinciding around the latest revelation of sexual harassment or abuse in the halls of power and in different industries - a domino effect in society. From Hollywood and #MeToo in 2017, to Iran and #IranMeToo in 2020, to the Women's March 4 Justice in Australia in 2021, women have spoken out about their experiences, sparking mass protests for change. But, as with all social movements for change, there has been and there continues to be pushback. Those brave enough to speak out have faced legal threats from those they accuse in legal systems that protect the powerful and the patriarchy. From two internationally acclaimed lawyers comes a masterful and urgent exploration of the legal response to the MeToo movement in Australian and around the world. We are in a crucial moment: women are breaking through the cultural reticence to speak out about gender-based violence. But as they have grown empowered to speak, a new form of systematic silencing has become more evident: the spike in survivors speaking out has been followed by a spike in leal actions against them and the media. The law is being wielded to reinforce the status quo of silence that existed before MeToo. We cannot act if we do not know. If women cannot speak about their abuse - and journalists are fearful of telling their stories - then how can we understand the problem of gender-based vioelnce in our society? And how can we even begin to end it? In How Many More Women? Jennifer Robinson and Keina Yoshida examine the laws around the world that silence women, and explore the changes we need to make to ensure that women's freedoms are no longer threatened by the legal system that is supposed to protect them