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Work in Progress Talk: Pioneers Long Before #MOIAUSSI- Insights On The #METOO Movement in Quebec

April 27, 2022 3:30pm-4:30pm
  • Annenberg School, Room 500
Audience University-Wide

"Pioneers Long Before #MOIAUSSI- Insights On The #METOO Movement in Quebec"

Photo credit: Arièle Bonte on Unsplash

About The Talk

Within the province of Quebec, Canadian Black women's activism against sexual violence is erased within the mainstream feminist movement both in activist circles and academic research. This invisibilisation is due in part to Quebec's history and Francophone minority status within North America. At the moment, there are little to no studies focusing solely on violence against Canadian Black women, despite the tremendous impact of the #MeToo movement in Quebec. Ironically, most rape crisis shelters in this province fail to reach this vastly underserved population. Since early 2000, the feminist Quebec movement has gained a strong interest in intersectionality theory, as coined by legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw. Despite its strong attraction for diversity and equity principles, challenges remain within mainstream feminism to authentically center the voices of Black women activists and survivors.

This presentation will: (1) Give a broad overview of the history of hashtag activism against rape culture in Quebec, Canada; (2) Explain some of the historical, social and political dynamics at play when it comes to Black women's invisibility, hypervisibility and resistance within the mainstream feminist movement in Quebec both in academia and activist circles ;(3) Present the work of some of the leading Black feminist activists and scholars in this province/country; and (4) Showcase the presenter's doctoral thesis project and work in this field.

About the Speaker

Karol-Ann Headshot

Kharoll-Ann Souffrant is an award-winning social worker and Ph.D. Candidate in Social Work at the University of Ottawa. She is a Visiting Scholar at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. Her doctoral thesis focuses on the #MeToo movement from the perspective of Black women and girls (victims/survivors and activists) in Quebec, Canada. Kharoll-Ann Souffrant is also a freelance columnist for multiple Quebec media, where she publishes commentary on social justice issues. In 2020, she was named a United Nations Fellow for People of African Descent. She is the recipient of the Vanier scholarship and is a Canada-US Fulbright Student Awardee.

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