Together we will discuss why mandatory reporting is not neutral, how mandatory reporting and family policing connects to other forms of criminalization and how to resist calls to “comply in advance.”

This workshop is for educators, social workers, youth workers, those in the public health realms and all community members impacted by mandatory reporting and family policing. Come to learn about why these laws are harmful and how to resist!

Speakers:

Shannon Perez-Darby: A founding member of the Accountable Communities Consortium, core member of the Mandatory Reporting is Not Neutral Project and co-editor of the anthology, How to End Family Policing: From Outrage to Action (Haymarket, 2025), Shannon Perez-Darby is a queer, mixed Latina, anti-violence advocate, author, activist, and consultant working to create the conditions to support loving, equitable relationships and communities. Shannon centers queer and trans communities of color while working to address issues of domestic and sexual violence, accountability, family policing and prison abolition.

Shira Hassan (she/her) is the former executive director of the Young Women’s Empowerment Project, an organizing and grassroots movement building project led by and for young people of color that have current or former experience in the sex trade and street economies. A lifelong harm reductionist and prison abolitionist, Shira has been working on community accountability for nearly 25 years and has helped young people of color start their own organizing projects across the country.

With an introduction from Erica Meiners. 

Co-Sponsors:

• Mandatory Reporting is Not Neutral Project: The Mandatory Reporting is Not Neutral project works to share survivor stories about the impact of mandatory reporting, educate communities on harm reduction practices and change the conditions that lead to violence and abuse.
• How to End Family Policing: From Outrage to Action: From leading abolitionist organizers, How to End Family Policing From Outrage to Action (Haymarket,2025) is a much-needed intervention arguing that the systems that purport to protect children make them—and our communities—less safe.