Ideas worth spreading

It's time for the law to protect victims of gender violence

1,210,713 views | Laura L. Dunn • TED2018

To make accountability the norm after gender violence in the United States, we need to change tactics, says victims' rights attorney and TED Fellow Laura L. Dunn. Instead of going institution by institution, fighting for reform, we need to go to the Constitution and finally pass the Equal Rights Amendment, which would require states to address gender inequality and violence. By ushering in sweeping change, Dunn says, "our legal system can become a system of justice, and #MeToo can finally become 'no more.'"

To make accountability the norm after gender violence in the United States, we need to change tactics, says victims' rights attorney and TED Fellow Laura L. Dunn. Instead of going institution by institution, fighting for reform, we need to go to the Constitution and finally pass the Equal Rights Amendment, which would require states to address gender inequality and violence. By ushering in sweeping change, Dunn says, "our legal system can become a system of justice, and #MeToo can finally become 'no more.'"

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Learn more about efforts to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.

Need help in a campus hearing or lawsuit? Reach out to the L.L. Dunn Law Firm for legal assistance within the United States.

About the speaker

Victims' rights attorney

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TED Fellow Laura L. Dunn advances and enforces victims' rights for survivors of gender violence in campus, criminal and civil legal systems.

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Equal Means Equal

The documentary Equal Means Equal reviews the status of women under the law within the United States today. Through highlighting groundbreaking legal cases and real-life experiences, this film shows how sex discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual violence still deny equality on the basis of sex. It's a powerful call to action for the United States to immediately ratify the Equal Rights Amendment so it can become part of the US Constitution.

The Aspen Institute | YouTube, 2017 | Watch

"Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Equal Rights Amendment"

This interview clip features Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg discussing the importance of passing the Equal Rights Amendment. Equality under the law is still not guaranteed, and Justice Ginsburg explains why the Fourteenth Amendment does not go far enough to ensure gender equality. "I would like my granddaughters, when they pick up the Constitution, to see that notion — that women and men are persons of equal stature," states Justice Ginsburg.

ACLU | 2011 | Watch

Domestic Violence & Human rights: Lenahan v. USA

The documentary "Domestic Violence & Human rights: Lenahan v. USA" follows brave domestic violence survivor, Jessica Lenahan, who brought the United States to account before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for failing to protect her family against domestic violence. This landmark legal victory held the United States violated her human rights by failing to require State law enforcement to intervene and protect her family from gender violence, which resulted in lives lost.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Learn more about efforts to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.

Need help in a campus hearing or lawsuit? Reach out to the L.L. Dunn Law Firm for legal assistance within the United States.