The public systems we navigate every day — from the education system, criminal justice system, and welfare system, among others — often have coercion baked into them that can deprive people of their ability to make free choices. Regardless of what systems we engage with, everyone deserves the right to make informed decisions.
Sam Carwyn, Interfaith’s Reproductive Health Rights and Justice Educator Advocate, hosted the Coercion in Systems education session on September 28th, and moderated a panel discussion that includes experts who have lived experience navigating these systems and experiencing the coercion that often accompanies them. We’ve included a full video of Carwyn’s presentation and the panelists’ remarks below.
Speakers include the Rev. Corbin Tobey-Davis, who is the executive director of the ROCK Center in Aurora, Colorado. You’ll also hear from Kathryn (Kat) Ling, who is a queer, Asian American leader serves as interim CEO for the education nonprofit edVentures. Storyteller Storyteller Laura Perez, a mother of eight, will share her experience with coercion in the carceral system. Heather Thompson, who works with the birth and reproductive justice organization Elephant Circle, will also speak about encountering coercion in the systems she engages with on a day-to-day basis.
Click here to watch a video of the event!