In this powerful and accessible exploration of our legal systems, two human rights lawyers break open the big judgments, developments and trends that have and continue to silence and disadvantage women

How many more women have to be raped and abused before we act?

How many more women need to accuse him before we believe her?

How many more women will be failed by the criminal justice system?

How many more women need to speak out before we do something?

How many more women will be sued for defamation for speaking out?

How many more women will be silenced by NDAs?

How many more women lawyers, judges and legislators do we need for the law to evolve?

How many more women must yell and cry in protest before things will change?

From two internationally acclaimed lawyers comes a masterful and urgent exploration of the legal response to MeToo in both Australia and around the world.

We are in a crucial moment: wave after wave of women are breaking through the cultural reticence around gender-based and sexual violence. But even as they have grown empowered to speak, a new form of systematic silence has made itself more and more evident: the spike in survivors speaking out has been followed by a spike in legal actions against them - in defamation, in contract, in breach of confidence.

The law is currently being wielded to reinforce the status quo. Our criminal justice system is impeded by a flood of civil cases that act as gag orders. Defamation laws inhibit media from giving platforms to central voices. Binding non-disclosure agreements signed under duress keep the truth submerged.

In How Many More Women?, Jennifer Robinson and Keina Yoshida examine the broken systems and explore the changes needed in order to ensure that women's freedom, including their freedom of speech, is no longer threatened by the laws that are supposed to protect them.

About the Authors

Jennifer Robinson is an Australian human rights and media lawyer, who is internationally recognised for her work. She is a practising barrister at Doughty Street Chambers in London and has acted in key civil liberties, freedom of speech and information cases in the UK, regional courts, international tribunals and UN special mechanisms.

Dr Keina Yoshida is an human rights lawyer, media lawyer and feminist. She is a practising human rights barrister at Doughty Street Chambers and has a recognised expertise in women's human rights. Keina is part of the Feminist International Law of Peace and Security research team at the Centre for Women, Peace and Security, at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).