You Shouldn’t Have to Fight This Hard for Justice

Meet Leslie Hunt

Writer and survivor-advocate

Leslie Hunt is a sexual assault survivor, writer, and advocate who has spent years learning how the system works and using that knowledge to change it.

After being drugged and assaulted by a colleague in New York, Leslie reported and cooperated fully with law enforcement. Her case was closed without investigation. Rather than accept that outcome, she went public, speaking with the New York Times, the New York Post, the New York Daily News, and NY1, and testifying before the New York City Council. Her advocacy helped spark a Department of Justice investigation into the NYPD's mishandling of sexual assault cases.

She has since championed survivor-rights legislation through the California legislature. She works with Rise, a survivor-led organization advancing legislative reform, and is training toward certification in Trauma Incident Reduction, a non-clinical modality for traumatic stress.

Leslie writes Fractured, a Substack newsletter on sexual violence, the criminal justice system, and how to fight back. Her writing draws on lived experience, insider knowledge of how the criminal justice system actually works, and years of direct advocacy, to help survivors and allies understand the system and push for change.

Her work has been featured in the New York Times, The Hill, the New York Post, NY1, and the New York Daily News.

Formerly known as Leslie McFadden.