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CFR Conversations: Gender Discrimination and Liberation with Dr. Risa Kumamoto

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Wednesday, February 15, 2023
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Risa Kumamoto for a conversation co-hosted by the Center for Reconciliation and the Asian House of Studies: "Gender Discrimination and the Liberation Movement of Buraku Women in Japan."
Risa Kumamoto grew up in Fukuoka, Japan. After graduating from college, she worked for an international human rights organization, the International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR). She has served as a faculty member at Kindai University's Human Rights Research Institute since 2002. Kumamoto earned her Ph.D. from Osaka Prefecture University. In her thesis, she explored how Buraku women have constructed or could construct their agency in search of liberation, even though both the
Buraku liberation movement and the women's liberation movement have made them invisible. As she examined Buraku women's narratives and historical data of the Buraku liberation movement, she published a book titled A Study of the Formation of Buraku Women's Agency. Her current research focuses on the liberation movements of Buraku and Dalit women as well as intersectional discrimination based on descent, class, gender, and sexuality. She has engaged in developing global networks among women in Communities Discriminated against based on Work and Descent (CDWD). Kumamoto serves as a community organizer for the Buraku communities' welfare, education, and employment issues. She is also working with teachers involved in human rights education to develop educational programs for students who are sexually and racially minoritized.