On Saturday, August 14th, 2021, Kharoll-Ann Souffrant led the teach-in, "Pioneers Long Before #MoiAussi: Black Women, Rape Culture, and Digital Feminist Activism in Quebec", for the School for Black Feminist Politics, the Black feminist political education initiative and hub of Black Women Radicals.
CW: Sexual Violence, Rape
About the teach-in: Within the province of Quebec, Canadian Black women's activism against sexual violence is erased within the mainstream feminist movement both in activist circles and academic research. This invisibilisation is due in part to Quebec's history and Francophone minority status within North America. At the moment, there are little to no studies focusing solely on violence against Canadian Black women, despite the tremendous impact of the #MeToo movement in Quebec.
Ironically, most rape crisis shelters in this province fail to reach this vastly underserved population. Since early 2000, the feminist Quebec movement has gained a strong interest in intersectionality theory, as coined by legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw. Despite its strong attraction for diversity and equity principles, challenges remain within mainstream feminism to authentically center the voices of Black women activists and survivors.
This presentation will:
1) Give a broad overview of the history of hashtag activism against rape culture in Quebec, Canada.
2) Explain some of the historical, social and political dynamics at play when it comes to Black women's invisibility, hypervisibility and resistance within the mainstream feminist movement in Quebec both in academia and activist circles.
3) Present the work of some of the leading Black feminist activists and scholars in this province/country.
4) Showcase the presenter's doctoral thesis project and work in this field.
About Kharoll-Ann Souffrant: Born in Montreal & of Haitian descent, Kharoll-Ann Souffrant (she/her/elle) is an award-winning social worker, columnist, author, public speaker, & researcher. She is a doctoral candidate in social work at the University of Ottawa, & a Fulbright & Vanier scholarships recipient. Her thesis project focuses on sexual violence experienced by Black women in Quebec in connection with the #MoiAussi (#MeToo) movement of 2017 & #AgressionNonDénoncée (#BeenRapedNeverReported) movement of 2014.
Kharoll-Ann holds a bachelor’s & master’s degree in social work from McGill University and a college diploma in Youth & Adult Correctional Intervention from the Collège Ahuntsic. She has worked as a volunteer, counselor & social worker with populations with a variety of psychosocial difficulties as well as in the health & social services network for the past 16 years. She is a part-time lecturer at the University of Montreal. Kharoll-Ann was recently selected as a 2020 United Nations Fellow for People of African Descent by the Office of High Commissioner of Human Rights in the context of the UN International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024). She is fluent in English, French & Haitian Creole.
You can follow her on Twitter @kasouffrantpro.
