Open letter of solidarity with women and

feminists at the University of Toronto

We, as graduate students, teachers, and researchers in the Department of Sociology at the
University of Toronto, write this letter to express our steadfast solidarity with the women
and feminists who have been the target of recent, repeated anonymous threats of violence
and murder. As the university administration and Toronto Police continue to investigate
these threats, we view them as a sobering reminder that being a woman means fighting to
exist and take up space in this world, and that this fight is a revolutionary act. We
understand that the act of supporting and advocating for feminist principles is sufficient
to be met with threats of violence and death. Challenging patriarchy, masculine privilege,
sexism, misogyny, racism, transphobia, and homophobia continues to be sufficiently
controversial as to invite the silencing threat of violence.
As sociologists, we understand the social context that incites threats like these. We
understand the cultural and structural conditions that prime our society for acts of
extreme violence against women and against those who support the political struggle for
gender equality. We are deeply concerned about the social conditions that continue to
disadvantage women collectively, particularly queer and trans-identified women, women
with disabilities, women with a precarious citizenship status, Indigenous women, and
women of colour. We remember the 1989 anti-feminist massacre of fourteen women and
the injury of fourteen other men and women at lcole Polytechnique de Montral. We
think about the elevated risks of sexual violence against women every day on our
university campuses. We consider the emerging culture of online misogyny that
encourages anonymous threats of harassment, rape, and death. Finally, we understand
that threats like these operate to intimidate and silence women and feminists who study
and advocate for equality, equity, and most fundamentally, against oppression of all
kinds.
To those targeted, we express our solidarity and our unwavering support for the continued
struggle for social and political justice for women. We renew our commitment to the
egalitarian treatment of people regardless of gender. Dismantling hierarchical,
dehumanizing, and violent structures of power invites resistance, but our collective
efforts will not be stopped.
In solidarity,
Concerned Graduate Students at the Department of Sociology, University of Toronto