Ph.D. student Kanoko Kamata featured in Dietrich School "Student Spotlight."

Kanoko Kamata, entering her third year in the Department of Sociology's PhD program, was featured in a recent Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences "Student Spotlight."

A community organizer experienced in affecting change, Kanoko Kamata is dedicated to inspiring others to take action. As a student in the Dietrich School’s Sociology Ph.D. program, she studies anti-sexual violence protests in Japan, with a particular focus on identifying the practices that facilitate participation in the movement.

This research is informed by Kamata’s first-hand experiences as an organizer and activist on gender issues, particularly gender-based violence. In 2017, her collaboration with activist, nonprofit, and government stakeholders resulted in the reform of Japan’s sex crime law for the first time in 110 years.