We can't ignore race when it comes to gender violence, says Anita Hill

Anita Hill testifies in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee during Clarence Thomas' Supreme Court confirmation hearing, October 11, 1991. Photo by R. Michael Jenkins.

 Anita Hill went from being a relatively unknown law professor to a high-profile and outspoken advocate for victims of workplace harassment and sexual assault — after her 1991 Congressional testimony that President George H.W. Bush’s Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas sexually harassed her. Now Hill is out with a new book about what was — and wasn’t — learned in the last 30 years. It’s called “Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender Violence.” 

“When it comes to women of color, we know that they have a higher rate of sexual assault and rape, they have higher rates of murder by partners. … One in every two Native women have experienced sexual assault. … More often than not, those assaults are committed by non-Native men,” Hill says. “We can't ignore race when we are addressing the problem of gender violence. What happens is that race layers on top of the misogyny and leaves women of color completely vulnerable.”

Press Play also gets reviews of the latest film releases: “No Time to Die,” “Mass,” “South of Heaven,” and “Justin Bieber: Our World.”