Episode 147: Elle Kamihira on her documentary "Jennifer 42" and "Jennifer's Law"

en(gender)ed

On this episode of the en(gender)ed podcast, our guest is Elle Kamihira, a multi-disciplinary director whose work has focused on using storytelling as a tool to spark conversation about women’s lives and gender inequality. We speak with Elle today about one of her current projects, Jennifer 42, an animated documentary that takes a close look at the role of coercive control in the true story of the murder of Jennifer Magnano and Elle’s advocacy work supporting “Jennifer’s Law,” a related proposed legislation under consideration by the Connecticut legislature.

During our conversation, Elle and I referenced the following resources:

• How coercive control impacts victims and children
• How society blames women for everything, as depicted in a recent episode of A Million Little Things
• The public hearing for "Jennifer's Law" in March 2021 which includes testimony for over 11 hours from survivors and advocates in support of coercive control legislation
• How members of the "Domestic Violence Industrial Complex" are opposing the Jennifer's Law legislation that would update definitions of domestic violence to be holistic and increase accountability for abuse
• The distinctions between the new legislation the DV agencies in Connecticut are proposing and Jennifer's Law
• How some advocates who refer to themselves as victims advocates are actually "abuser apologists" or "abuser sympathizers"

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