The New Campus Anti-Rape Movement

After 40 years of activists working to reduce sexual violence on college campuses, in 2014, the new Campus Anti-Rape Movement (CARM) finally put this issue on the national policy agenda. President Barack Obama credited “an inspiring wave of student-led activism” for catapulting campus rape into public consciousness. This book positions the new CARM within a long history of anti-sexual violence activism in the U.S. The authors describe the major events of this new movement and how it coalesced. The authors also analyze the new CARM through a social movement lens, and examine the role of new laws and social media in facilitating movement successes. The book argues that the new CARM laid the groundwork for the emergence of #MeToo, the highest profile campaign against sexual harassment/violence to date in U.S. history.

Caroline Heldman is an Associate Professor of Politics at Occidental College in Los Angeles, USA. She specializes in the presidency and systems of power (race, class, gender) in U.S. politics.

Alissa R. Ackerman is associate professor in the Social Work and Criminal Justice Program at the University of Washington, Tacoma, and a criminal justice policy researcher.