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Disrupting the Script:

Raising to Legal Consciousness Sexual Assaults on Black Women



Conference Videos

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Black rape survivors face greater hurdles than do those of European origin. Research has found that societal myths about race and sexuality combine to play a significant role in responses to sexual assault—from the victim’s reaction to an assault, to a prosecutor or judge’s confidence in the validity of her story, to the credibility members of the jury give to her testimony and their willingness to accept the act described as a sexual violation.

Because these responses are societal and cultural, we recognize that any effort to address them must go beyond the legal system itself, to the larger society. Watch the videos below to follow the conversation on this topic that ensued during the "Disrupting the Script" conference. 

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President Fred Lawrence:

The Meaning of "Raising to Legal Consciousness"


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Professor. Anita Hill:

Dismantling Cultural Myths


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Professor Bernadette Brooten: 


A Deeply Entrenched Problem


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Professor Anita Hill:

Introduction of "Who Will Sing for Lena?"


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Vanessa Adams-Harris:

"Who Will Sing for Lena?"


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Professor Jennifer Nash:

Black Women and Rape:
A Review of the Literature


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Cultural Narratives as Impediments to Justice: Black Rape Complainants and Criminal Prosecutions & Discussion with Audience


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Professor Adrienne Davis:

Sexual Justice and Repair


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Professor Régine Jean-Charles:

Rethinking the Framework for Understanding Sexual Violence in a Global Context


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Reverend Professor Traci West:

Christianity and the Social and Spiritual Harm of Sexual Violence


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Disrupting the Script: Altering Cultural Perceptions through Theater, Narrative, and Ethics & Discussion with Audience


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Provost Steve Goldstein:

What Do We Do? Five Steps


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Professor Anita Hill:

Addressing this Civil Rights/Human Rights and Health Crisis


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Professor Bernadette Brooten:

Resources for Moving Forward


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Professor Anita Hill:

Bringing Equality to Black Women


These videos were recorded on March 19, 2012 as part of the conference, "Disrupting the Script: Raising to Legal Consciousness Assaults on Black Women." It was sponsored by the Feminist Sexual Ethics Project in the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies Department at Brandeis University.