#MeToo Movement Headlines Law Journals in Special Symposium

(No Ratings Yet)

Loading...

Summary: Two law school journals will feature a special symposium on the #MeToo movement and how related issues pertain to the law.

The Stanford Law Review and Yale Law Journal are teaming up to publish a special companion symposium on the #MeToo movement, according to a Yale Law School announcement.

  

What

Where

Search Jobs

The special symposium titled, #MeToo and the Future of Sexual Harassment Law” will launch June 18, 2018. The symposium will outline teachings from #MeToo activists, policymakers, lawyers, scholars, and judges. There will be a series of articles from 12 leading scholars on the way sexual harassment results in and leads to greater inequality in the workplace and beyond. These essays challenge the traditional understanding of sexual harassment claims that the media has covered recently as part of the #MeToo movement.

Yale Law Professor Vicki Schultz said, “These essays develop a much broader conception of sexual harassment than most media reports in the #MeToo era have adopted. This symposium focuses not only on sexualized advances and assaults, but also on the many other, even more common ways that harassment upholds workplace sexism, policies gender roles, and limits opportunities at work and elsewhere.”

The movement began in 2006 by Tarana Burke. In the past year, the movement has gathered greater support and opened dialogue into how sexual harassment claims are handled. Thousands of victims have found the courage to speak up and tell their stories.

The timing of the symposium coincides with action by lawmakers to implement legal reforms to protect vulnerable workers. The articles aim to show how reforms will change how sexual harassment interacts with gender policing, sex segregation, and arbitrary and unchecked power in the workplace. They explain what kinds of reforms will work best in crushing sexual harassment in American society.

The Yale Law Journal collection leads with Professor Schultz’s article “Reconceptualizing Sexual Harassment, Again.” The Stanford Law Review collection leads with “Open Statement on Sexual Harassment from Employment Discrimination Law Scholars” by ten of the top scholars in the field. There are also 10 principles to aid in addressing sexual harassment and 60 specific reform proposals.

The statement reads, “Inspired by recent events and renewed activism, we wish to contribute to the current momentum by broadening the conversation about the law. We know that law alone cannot create change. Yet we know also that change rarely occurs without the law.”

The symposium also addresses the needs to extend protections to those accused of harassment, understanding there must be a balance to both sides to achieve fairness and equality.

Do you think the #MeToo movement will curb the amount of sexual harassment? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

To learn more about the #MeToo movement, read these articles:

• Time Names Silence Breakers of the #MeToo Movement as Person of the Year
• Harvey Weinstein Posts $1 Million Bail after Arrest for Rape
• Los Angeles Investigating Sylvester Stallone for Alleged Rape

Photo: pixabay.com