Oct 23 - MTS Salon Series talk by Dr. Mandi Gray
9 October 2024

The Media and Technology Studies Salon Series presents:
Dr. Mandi Gray, speaking on her new book Suing for Silence: Sexual Violence and Defamation Law
Wednesday, Oct 23, 2024 || 2:15 - 3:15pm
DSC Visualization Room (Cameron Library, room 2-20)
In this talk, Dr. Mandi Gray will present the key findings from her new book Suing for Silence: Sexual Violence and Defamation Law (UBC Press, 2024). Suing for Silence exposes the phenomenon of defamation lawsuits whose purpose is to silence those who disclose sexual violence, revealing the gendered underpinnings of Canadian defamation law and its chilling effect on public discourse including formal reports of sexual violence. This talk will focus specifically on how defamation lawsuits have impacted formal reporting by news media on important issues of gendered violence and debunk the circulating myths that these lawsuits emerge due to women’s reckless “naming and shaming” on social media.
Mandi Gray is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at Trent University, lecturing in criminology, and an anti-violence activist. She is regularly featured in Canadian media on issues pertaining to sexual violence, including in the Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, Toronto Life, and the CBC.