Renee Shelby

The #MeToo social consciousness demands a move from awareness to action. Since the 1970s, citizen-activists have challenged how the justice system neglects assault by re-designing the technology used for self-defense, reporting, investigation, and punishment. “Designing Justice” uncovers how activists use these objects to contest structural inequality, by re-shaping which cases flow through the legal system. Using archival, narrative, and scientific sources, the study reveals new battles over survivors’ social and legal futures. The study articulates how public contestations over the multiple definitions of sexual violence inscribed in technological design challenge racial and gender stereotypes.