The past year has been a notable one for Dr. Mandi Gray, a researcher and long-time anti-violence advocate for women and girls.

In addition to a faculty appointment as an assistant professor of Criminology at Trent, she has been touring the country discussing her recently published book, Suing for Silence: Sexual Violence and Defamation Law, a ground-breaking examination that raises awareness of an unsettling global trend surrounding cases of sexual assault: men accused of sexual violence suing their accusers.

“To the best of my knowledge, this is the first book-length work in the English-speaking world which documents the use of the defamation law to silence sexual violence discourse,” said Professor Gray.

Prof. Gray first learned of these happenings in 2017 after two women, unknown to each other, divulged to her they were being sued for reporting an incident of sexual violence.

“In 2018, the #MeToo Movement encouraged women to report sexual violence,” said Prof. Gray. “As this feminist movement gained traction, so did the anti-feminist backlash. Soon after, lawsuits appeared to have become a common response. I was curious why such lawsuits had been neglected within the anti-violence movement and that led to my research which began in 2019.”

That curiosity drove her to research this trend in depth, and her book (published by UBC Press) meticulously documents these lawsuits and the impact they had on the people involved.

“I’m proud that I was able to share the experiences of many people, mostly women, who had been sued for reporting or disclosing sexual violence or supporting someone who had been sexually assaulted,” said Prof. Gray.

Widespread interest and engagement in the book

Having just wrapped up a cross-country book and speaking tour, Prof. Gray finds herself energized by the attention the book is garnering from diverse audiences.

“It’s been really exciting to see the interest in an academic book, mostly from non-academic audiences. I didn’t anticipate this response when the book came out. The audiences are really engaged and interested in learning about the book, and while I’m happy to talk about my research, it’s also a sad reality that this work resonates with so many people,” said Prof. Gray.

Now that her travels have slowed, Prof. Gray plans to resume her research in the field.

“I am currently working on a project that looks at attitudes among service providers in the gender-based violence sector towards the use of restorative justice for sexual harm,” she says. “I am also going to hopefully continue my research into civil legal action for sexual harm and hope to supervise students interested in researching gendered violence and civil legal action from a sociological perspective.”