EQUAL MEANS EQUAL would not be the definitive documentary about women in America today without the depth and breadth of our interview subjects’ expertise, passion and help.
I am heartened by the incredible women I met. Lawyers, doctors, scholars, law enforcement officers, politicians, rape victims, warriors on the front lines of sex trafficking, international policymakers, prominent public intellectuals and American activists willing to put their bodies and freedom on the line — all were part of the incredibly diverse cross section of our society interviewed for EQUAL MEANS EQUAL. Some are well known, some anonymous, all invaluable.
Below is a sampling of the more than 100 people interviewed for EQUAL MEANS EQUAL.
GLORIA STEINEM
Journalist and Activist
Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient
PATRICIA ARQUETTE
Actress, Activist, Executive Producer
LAKSHMI PURI
Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations
Deputy Executive Director – UN Women
ELEANOR SMEAL
Co-Founder and President – Feminist Majority
TERRY O’NEILL
President – National Organization for Women
CAROLYN MALONEY
U.S. Congresswoman (NY)
LENORA LAPIDUS
Director – ACLU Women’s Rights Project
Captain KELLY MULLDORFER
Commanding Officer – Detective Support and Vice Division LAPD
Lieutenant ANDRE DAWSON
LAPD Child Sex Trafficking Unit
BETH ADUBATO
Professor of Criminal Justice – New York Institute of Technology
LESLIE ACOCA
Founder – National Girls Health and Justice Institute
Dr. BRIGITTE ALEXANDER
Director – Sexual Assault Response Team, North Central Bronx Hospital
DINA BAKST
Co-Founder and Co-President – A Better Balance, The Work and Family Legal Center
NAHEED BAHRAM
Program Director – Women for Afghan Women
Professor HELEN BENEDICT
Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, Author
KIM BIDDLE
Founder, Executive Director – Saving Innocence
Dr. MARTHA BURK
Founder – The Center for Advancement of Public Policy
PAULA CAPLAN
Psychologist, Associate – Harvard University’s Dubois Institute
KAREN CARROLL
Forensic Nurse – Sexual Assault Response Team
SORAYA CHEMALY
Journalist
ELLEN CHESLER
Senior Fellow – Roosevelt Institute
UGOJI EZE
International Human Rights Lawyer
U.N. High Commission for Refugees
XIOMARA FLORES
Department of Children and Family Services, L.A. County
ROBERTA FRANCIS
ERA Task Force Co-Chair – National Council of Women’s Organizations
MICHELLE GUYMON
Director – Child Trafficking Unit, Los Angeles County Probation Department
CAROLINE HELDMAN
Professor of Politics – Occidental College
RITA HENLEY JENSEN
Editor-in-Chief and Founder – Women’s eNews
YVONNE MARIA JIMENEZ
Deputy Director – Neighborhood Legal Services of L.A. County
DESIREE JORDAN
Founder – Unite Women New York
DAISY KHAN
Executive Director – Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality
THOMAS KELLY
Executive Director – Girls and Gangs
Dr. LOIS LEE
Founder and President – Children of the Night
LISA MAATZ
Lead Policy Advisor – American Association of University Women
KEVIN NOBLE MAILLARD
Professor of Law – Syracuse University
AMANDA MARCOTTE
Blogger/Journalist – Slate Double X, Jezebel
Reverend CHARLES McKENZIE
Rainbow Coalition
JESSICA NEUWIRTH
President – ERA Coalition
Former Policy Advisor – Amnesty International
LISA NEWCITY J.D.
Program Director of Legal Studies – Roger Williams University
JENNIFER REISCH
Legal Director – Equal Rights Advocate, on team of attorneys taking on case of Betty Dukes
STEPHANIE RICHARD
Managing Attorney – Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking, CAST
HEIDI RUMMEL
Co-Founder – Post-Conviction Justice Project; Professor – USC Gould School of Law
EMILY SACK
Deputy Director – Center for Court Innovation, Professor of Criminal & Domestic Violence Law
SARAH SLAMEN
Texas Activist
LORI SOKOL
President – Sokol Media, Inc.
LAUREN TEUKOLSKY
Civil Rights Lawyer – Traber & Voorhees
GARRETT THEROLF
Los Angeles Times
LISA WATSON
CEO – Downtown Women’s Center, Los Angeles
LINDA WHARTON
Professor of Law and Political Science; Former Managing Attorney – Women’s Law Project