How Many More Women?: The Silencing of Women by the Law and How to Stop It

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When defamation cases are brought against journalist or newspapers, the female victim survivors rarely have any agency over how the events are communicated or defended. Also defamation laws in the UK and USA vary with the onus switching between parties. The case, which also happens to be their book’s opener, took place in the United Kingdom and involved a woman who’d shown police the red marks her ex-husband left on her throat when he violently grabbed her. Later on, the woman had written to the man’s new partner on Facebook in an attempt to warn the new partner of his history of violence, using the words “He tried to strangle me.” 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? 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. The book is written very plainly, with language that’s easy to read, instead of being couched in legalese.

On one hand, How Many More Women? could work better as a historical account of how the law failed women around and during the #MeToo movement. But on the other hand, the information is all incredibly current, and these laws need some kind of grassroots foundations to be built to start tearing them down.

Another thing that’s revealed in court cases such as the US trial between Depp and Heard is the way the law is currently applied and interpreted in the best interest of men, while restricting womens’ rights to freedom of expression. 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. This event is presented by the UNSW Centre for Ideas, UNSW Law & Justice and Sydney Writers' Festival, and supported by Allen & Unwin . The Sir John Clancy Auditorium is easily accessible via public transport. Call the Transport Infoline on 131 500 or visit transportnsw.info.

We were both so outraged by that. We decided to work together to try to intervene in the case, but the Supreme Court didn’t hear us,” says Robinson. Jennifer has acted in key free speech and freedom of information cases for clients such as the New York Times and Bloomberg. She is a member of the legal team for WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, having acted for Assange in extradition proceedings, advised WikiLeaks during Cablegate and worked with the Center for Constitutional Rights on United States v Bradley Manning. For more than a decade she has been involved in advocacy related to self-determination and human rights in West Papua. In 2008 the UK Attorney General recognised Jennifer as a National Pro Bono Hero. Jennifer was educated at the Australian National University and the University of Oxford where she was a Rhodes scholar. She writes for publications such as the Sydney Morning Herald and Al Jazeera. A clear-eyed and damning indictment of the criminal justice system.... the writing is engaging and gripping.' IRISH TIMES 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?

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Robinson’s recounts of the Depp versus Heard trials are incredibly powerful and provide important insights into how Heard was treated by the public. The authors write with determination to humanise Heard and others like her, after other media has alienated them from 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. Robinson and Yoshida lead a discussion of how to avoid the law silencing you – you must censor yourself, and refer to your lived experiences as ‘alleged’ to avoid defamation. 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?

Crucial reading for any person wanting to fight against all forms of gendered abuse.' JESS PHILLIPS, MP 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 womenAt this point in their careers, Yoshida works as a barrister– qualified in the UK and Ireland– and at the Centre for Reproductive Rights, while Robinson is an Australian barrister at Doughty Street Chambers in London. Robinson practises out of London on cases internationally and has worked on some high-profile cases such as representing Amber Heard in her UK trial. Robinson also works with women journalists and frontline organisations in reporting women’s rights stories. Sir John Clancy Auditorium is located at UNSW Sydney's Kensington Campus ( highlighted red on this map ). Please note this is a live event only, and will not be available via livestream.