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The Rape of Nicole and the Murder of Jennifer: Gender, Sovereignty and the U.S. Military in Subic Bay, Philippines

Victoria Reyes, Postdoctoral Fellow, National Center for Institutional Diversity, University of Michigan
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
3:00-4:30 PM
2239 Lane Hall Map
In this presentation, Professor Reyes will analyze two legal cases: the rape of Filipina Nicole by Lance Corporal Daniel Smith, a U.S. Marine, and the murder of transgender Filipina Jennifer by Lance Corporal Joseph Pemberton, also a U.S. Marine.

She will demonstrate how U.S. and Philippine government officials, lawyers, judges, and activists engaged in jurisdictional boundary-making regarding who has which rights to try, convict, and punish U.S. service members who commit crimes against locals. These claims revolved around particular understandings of class, nationalism, and gender-based discrimination. The sovereignty and abilities of the nation to assert jurisdictional rights over the accused are directly linked to bodies and the extent to which Philippine officials are able to protect Filipinas from violence caused by citizens of their former colonial overlord and their ability to punish the men who violated these daughters of the nation. The ability to punish violators include not only whether they are tried in Philippine courts, but also whether the Philippines is able to maintain custody during trial and after subsequent guilty verdicts as well as dictate where and how they would be detained.
Building: Lane Hall
Event Type: Lecture / Discussion
Tags: Asia, Sociology, Women's Studies
Source: Happening @ Michigan from Institute for Research on Women and Gender, Women's and Gender Studies Department, Department of Sociology