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Jessica Valenti to Deliver Fall 2024 Gruber Distinguished Lecture in Women’s Rights

Jessica Valenti seated in a chair in a sunny room with greenery behind her
Jessica Valenti

Feminist writer and activist Jessica Valenti will deliver the Fall 2024 Gruber Distinguished Lecture in Women’s Rights.

The lecture, titled “The Post-Roe Fight for Freedom,” will take place on Nov. 11, 2024 from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. in Room 127 of the Sterling Law Building. 

The event is open to the Yale community and invited guests only; RSVP at gruber.events@yale.edu by Nov. 1 to attend.

Jessica Valenti, called “one of the most successful and visible feminists of her generation” by The Washington Post, has been helping to lead the national conversation on feminism for over 20 years. 

Valenti started her career working for the National Organization of Women (NOW) Legal Defense and Education Fund (currently known as Legal Momentum) and for the Women’s Environment & Development Organization. She co-founded the award-winning blog Feministing, which she wrote for until 2011. Her online writing has been credited with triggering a wider shift of feminist activism into the digital space, as well as accelerating the movement’s accessibility and engagement with younger audiences.

Valenti currently runs the Abortion, Every Day newsletter on Substack, the only vehicle which synthesizes analysis of all abortion and abortion-related developments across the United States. She started the newsletter in the wake of the 2022 Dobbs decision. Valenti’s most recent book, “Abortion: Our Bodies, Their Lies, and the Truths We Use to Win” comes out of her work on the acclaimed newsletter.

Valenti has authored eight books in total, including the New York Times bestseller “Sex Object: A Memoir,” and co-edited the anthology “Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape”, which defined what is now considered the gold standard for sexual consent. Her work has appeared in columns and articles at The Guardian, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and Medium.

The Gruber Distinguished Lecture in Women’s Rights and the Gruber Distinguished Lecture in Global Justice feature speakers whose exceptional achievements have served the causes of global justice and women’s rights. The lecture is a core component of the Gruber Program for Global Justice and Women's Rights, a Yale University program administered by Yale Law School.