Interview Subjects

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