BELIEVING: OUR THIRTY YEAR JOURNEY TO END GENDER VIOLENCE by Anita Hill

A true American hero.

Believing: Our Thirty Year Journey to End Gender Violence is a powerful book by Professor Anita Hill, who famously gave evidence of sexual harassment in 1991 against then US Supreme Court nominee (now Justice) Clarence Thomas. Hill gave two days of evidence against Thomas, only to have the Senate Committee recommend Thomas to the highest Court in the United States.

This book looks back on those events, as well as famous (notorious) examples of sexual harassment and violence against women since, and the steps made towards a safer world for women. Hill spares no-one, including now President Joe Biden, who was head of the committee who recommended Thomas to the Supreme Court.

The week I write this review, SCOTUS has ripped apart the ability for US universities to use race as a consideration in university entrances, supported by Thomas of course, the very Justice who utilised that affirmative action strategy to get to where he is now…of and they have also voted to allow discrimination against the LBGTQ+ community, which of course makes total sense in the light of the affirmative action decision. You have to wonder if Joe Biden is regretting some of his professional and personal decisions.

I listened to the audiobook of Hill’s work and on several occasions, I cried tears of sadness, of rage and of anger. Not only for what Hill endured in 1991, but for what women continue to have to live with, fight against and lose their lives to - male violence, misogyny and entitlement to women’s bodies and minds. Truthfully, I have rarely read (or listened) to anything that has inspired me as much as this while simultaneously making me rageful.

One of the things that struck me about Hill’s writing is that she is definitely angry, but less so for herself and more so for the women who have suffered since she was assaulted so unnecessarily. She is clearly angry that, years later, Christine Blasey Ford was subjected to the same abhorrent treatment by the Senate Judiciary Committee and wider public that Hill was, after Ford came forward with her sexual assault at the hands of then SCOTUS nominee, now Justice, Brett Kavanaugh. I, and many millions of women, share than anger and frustration. Yet another life long appointed Justice is, a perpetrator of sexual violence. Men who get to make decisions that impact the right of women to equal rights, bodily autonomy and access to healthcare. We are not immune from these appointments in Australia, though better protected. I honestly don’t know how I would cope if I was an American and had to live under the spectre of this Supreme Court. Hill shares my anger, but she writes with clarity and dignity, which I admire.

This book is well researched and, while the topic is a difficult one, if is read deftly by January LaVoy. It is engaging and has a clear narrative that is easy to follow and which penetrates the soul.

I would strongly recommend this book - to read or listen - to anyone who shares my utter rage at the continual attack on women in the United States and who worries for the very existence of that country.

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(I finished listening to this book about a month ago but I then started a new job and promptly caught COVID, meaning I have been balancing a new role, illness and the reintroduction of full time work into my life…meaning I have been reading slightly less and very late in writing some reviews. Forgive me!)