Social Movements & the Law

"In Berkeley, on a picturesque university campus in the springtime, a young woman is shoved backwards down a concrete stairway by her partner. This follows months of escalating violence, during which he slams her into walls, chokes her, pours beer on her, threatens to kill her, stalks her, promises to split her head open with a hammer. She ends the relationship, cuts off contact, flees to the other side of the country, and initiates a Title IX case against him at the university. She knows what has happened to her, what she has experienced and survived: abuse, manipulation, threats against her life, gaslighting. She knows she has lived through these trials. But others say, simply, that she hasn't -- and that her boyfriend is the real victim. In this investigative memoir, historian and journalist Joy Neumeyer explores how violence against women is portrayed, perceived, defined, and adjudicated today, decades after the inception of Title IX. Interweaving the harrowing account of the abuse she experienced at the hands of her boyfriend when they were graduate students with those of other women who faced violence on campuses throughout history, Neumeyer offers a startling look at how little has changed in the years since Title IX was enacted, and uncovers its inherent flaws. She takes us through her own experience with the process, and reveals how in an effort to listen to survivors on campuses, the quasi-law, in reality, brings their experience into question. Deeply reported, nuanced and timely, A Survivor's Education demystifies Title IX while also examining how entangled storytelling is with abuse and power, and how we can balance narrative and evidence in our attempts to determine what "really happened.""--

"Creating a Seat at the Table is an edited collection that compiles the experiences of eighteen women as they navigate their way through the male-dominated spaces of law school and the legal profession. Hear from women from different generations and areas of the law--big and small law firms, legal aid, government and politics, the judiciary, in-house positions, administrative agencies. The authors discuss a multitude of issues they've faced in their careers, including the compound effects of discrimination based on race, sexual orientation, or disability as well as gender. The stories presented here are inspirational at times and discomforting at others. Creating a Seat at the Table shows that much has been done to advance women in law but also highlights that much remains to be done."--

Women's History Month, which is observed annually in March, is a celebration of women's contributions to history, culture, and society across time and place. To commemorate Women's History Month here at the law library, we put together a collection of books that celebrate women's achievements in the legal field and beyond. Furthermore, this display aims to reflect a diverse array of perspectives from women of many different backgrounds.

Everything you need to know about International Women's Day celebrations on March 8 every year.

International Women's Day is a global event that happens every year on 8 March to celebrate the achievements of women and to call for gender equality. Find out more here.

Providing legal information and online support to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault -- Because knowledge is power.

NALP's annual Report on Diversity in U.S. Law Firms finds slow progress in the legal profession's 'fragile' pipeline of diverse talent.

New Census Bureau data shows women are making 82.7 cents per every dollar a man makes. The gap is even wider for most women of color.

Listen to The Clayman Institute for Gender Research's The Feminist Present podcast on Apple Podcasts.

Women lawyers still lag behind their male counterparts in leadership positions, according to Law360 Pulse's 2024 Women in Law Report.

The Women's Art Library began as an artists' initiative that developed into an arts organization publishing catalogues and books as well as a magazine from the early 1980s to 2002.

Marginalised communities have long fought to preserve their own stories and provide an alternative to the Eurocentric, colonial archive

Women reported fewer promotions and fewer salary increases amid a tightening economy and slashed budgets.

On the IFLA-L email list, Loida Garcia-Febo, chair of the IFLA Management of Library Associations, shared a link to the recording of a free webinar she moderated in March titled Bridging the Gap: In Support of Women in Librarianship—A Conversation With ALA Presidents.

"Offers a novel contribution to immigration legal scholarship by rewriting Supreme Court immigration law opinions from a critical immigration legal theory lens. Contests fundamental presumptions in doctrinal immigration law and shows how entrenched system of power, alongside racism, sexism, and stereotypes, have marred the immigration law landscape"--

"From the struggles of childhood abuse to becoming a female police officer, this book tells the story of a woman's journey through the male dominated world of law enforcement. Through this personal account and unique perspective, a better understanding of policing strengths and weaknesses is gained"--

Despite the huge advances women have made in recent decades, their ambitions are still undermined in subtle ways. Parents, teachers, bosses, and institutions all give less encouragement to women than men, and women still grow up believing that they must defer to men in order be seen as feminine. If their ambition does survive into adulthood, too often those ambitions must be downsized or abandoned to accommodate "wifely" duties of household chores and child care. As a result, women--unlike men-continually have to re-shape their goals and expectations. In this groundbreaking work, Anna Fels draws on extensive research and years of her psychiatric practice to offer an original and deeply useful examination of ambition in women's lives. In the process, she illuminates just what is necessary for women to articulate--and fulfill--their dreams.

"The relationship between class and intimate violence against women is much misunderstood. While many studies of intimate violence focus on poor and working-class women, few examine the issue comparatively in terms of class privilege and class disadvantage. James Ptacek draws on in-depth interviews with sixty women from wealthy, professional, working-class, and poor communities to investigate how social class shapes both women's experiences of violence and the responses of their communities to this violence. Ptacek's framing of women's victimization as "social entrapment" links private violence to public responses and connects social inequalities to the dilemmas that women face"--

Controlling reproduction - who has children, how many, and when - is important to states, communities, families, and individuals across the globe. However, the stakes are even higher than might at first be appreciated: control over reproduction is an incredibly powerful tool. Contests over reproduction necessarily involve control over women and their bodies. Yet because reproduction is so intertwined with other social processes and institutions, controlling it also extends far into most corners of social, economic, and political life. Nancy Riley and Nilanjana Chatterjee explore how various social institutions beyond the individual - including state, religion, market, and family - are involved in the negotiation of reproductive power. They draw on examples from across the world, such as direct fertility policies in China and Romania, the influence of the Catholic Church in Poland and Brazil, racial discrimination and resistance in Mexico and the US, and how Japan and Norway use laws intended to encourage gender equality to indirectly shape reproduction. This engaging book sheds new light on the operations of power and gender in society. It will appeal to students taking courses on reproduction in departments of sociology, anthropology, and gender studies. -- Provided by publisher.

"In 1997, this groundbreaking book made a powerful entrance into the national conversation on race. In a media landscape dominated by racially biased images of welfare queens and crack babies, Killing the black body exposed America's systemic abuse of Black women's bodies. From slave masters' economic stake in bonded women's fertility to government programs that coerced thousands of poor Black women into being sterilized as late as the 1970s, these abuses pointed to the devaluation of Black motherhood--and the neglect of Black women's reproductive needs in mainstream feminist and civil rights agendas. Now, some two decades later, Killing the Black body remains as crucial as ever--a rallying cry for education, awareness, and action on extending reproductive justice to all women"--Page 4 of cover.

Listen to this episode from Women at Work on Spotify. As we wait for company leaders to make good on the anti-racism commitments they made earlier this year, we check in with four Black women about how their work lives have and haven’t changed. Then we talk with an expert who helps us understand how to keep pushing forward and supporting our Black colleagues while we wait for long-overdue change.

The intersection of women and the law

We are an offshoot of the Above the Law legal blog. But we are focused on the challenges women, people of color, LGBTQIA, and other diverse populations face in the legal industry. Let's be real -- it can suck out there. So we want to create a space where our community can come together share stories, find support and devise strategies. Our name comes from none other than the Notorious Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the jabot (decorative collar) she wears when delivering dissents from the bench. It's a reminder that --even when we aren't winning, we're still a powerful force to be reckoned with.

New episodes starting November 15th. The Roxane Gay Agenda is the *bad feminist* podcast of your dreams. It’s writer Roxane Gay in conversation with guests who have something necessary to say about the issues that matter most to her–and hopefully to you as well. On the Agenda: feminism, race, writing, art, pop culture, food, and, of course, politics. If you enjoy hearing from people–women, mostly; Black women, usually–who bring unique perspectives to a world in complete and utter chaos, put this show on your own agenda.