Tickets available here: Birkbeck Events – We Need to Talk
On March 9th, SHaME will be celebrating the release of Emily Hunt’s new book, We Need to Talk: The truth about sexual violence and my fight for justice, published by Mardle Books. Emily will be joined by a panel of speakers, including Alexandra Topping of The Guardian, Barrister Dr Charlotte Proudman, and SHaME’s Emma Yapp, for a conversation about the systemic lack of support for victim-survivors and the potentials for societal change.
Part memoir and part investigation, Emily Hunt’s new book We Need to Talk shines a light on the fault lines of a system and a society that is failing rape victims by examining how rape is a mainstream, everyday problem deeply damaging victims, their families, their workplaces and the economy. This is a conversation starter about why we don’t talk about rape; that the only cause of rape is rapists, not rape victims; who commits rape and why; the reasons why society defaults to blaming the victim; and ultimately how we need to change and humanise the way we talk about rape in order to truly hear and support victims and end the current epidemic of sexual violence.
The evening will feature a reading from the book, followed by a group discussion, and a brief audience Q&A.
This event will close with a reception. We Need to Talk will be available for purchase and signing at the event.
Registration details
Age Guidance: 18 yrs +
FREE – but please register in advance
To register, please click the ticket link below:
Please also see our safeguarding statement for the event here: SHaME Safeguarding We Need to Talk
9 March 2023
6.15-8:00PM BST
Followed by a Reception and Book Signing
*This event is taking place in person.
*Please note: this event will be recorded (speakers only).
SPEAKERS:
Emily Hunt is a data storyteller and senior advisor on behaviour-led strategy, communications and brand. She is an American British citizen who lives in London and, last but by no means least, she is a law changer. In her role as an expert adviser to the government she provides specialist advice on improving the criminal justice system for rape victims. Her ongoing work will primarily focus on ensuring that the Government’s end-to-end rape review effectively focuses on delivering real impacts within the criminal justice system.
Alexandra Topping is an award-winning senior national news reporter at The Guardian. For more than a decade she has reported on violence against women and girls, as well as wider societal issues related to sex and gender such as childcare, shared parenting and workplace and economic inequality.
Emma Yapp joins SHaME as a doctoral student. They were formerly employed at King’s College London as a research worker on projects about domestic and sexual abuse and mental health, and comes from a background in Philosophy and Psychology. Their PhD explores how psychiatric evidence about survivors of sexual violence is used in court proceedings in England and Wales. Read more about their research here.
Dr Ruth Beecher is in charge of the day-to-day running of SHaME. She is also a postdoctoral research fellow on the SHaME project. She is a social and cultural historian with interests in the history of race, gender, children and families, and popular culture in the US and UK in the twentieth century. She is trained in both applied and historical research (University of Sheffield and Birkbeck). Prior to the project, she managed a range of family support services in London.