Downes, Julia

Downes, Julia

Julia Downes

1 August 2016Feature

Activists need to examine the unspoken assumptions and power relations already at work in our movements, argues Julia Downes

Content note: rape, sexual assault, sexual violence



In social justice movements, we often encounter forces of the state who seek to quash radical dissent. The police, as agents of the state, are called on to contain and disperse demonstrations and protest camps, infiltrate and surveil our movements, profile activists, evict and shut down occupations.

This can take a distinctly gendered approach.

Several studies have indicated that women are at an…