Based on the best-selling novel by Miriam Toews, WOMEN TALKING follows a group of women in an isolated religious colony as they struggle to reconcile their faith with a series of sexual assaults committed by the colony’s men.
Followed by a post-film discussion on domestic and sexual violence awareness and recovery.
Presented in Partnership with
Panelists include:
Monica Kristen
Monica Kristen is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in New Jersey. She received her BA in psychology and Spanish from James Madison University, and her MSW from Monmouth University where her clinical focus was international and community development. For several years following graduation, she oversaw the crisis response coordination for the statewide program that provided services to survivors of human trafficking. Currently, she is the Senior Social Worker at Legal Services of New Jersey where she works side by side with low-income survivors of interpersonal violence in New Jersey to provide resources and advocacy. She also runs her own private practice, called Monica Kristen Therapy, where she provides trauma focused psychotherapy to girls and women. Much of her work has been around advocating for resources, and justice for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking. Monica is passionate about helping girls and women find empowerment and improve functioning.
Michele C. Lefkowitz, Esq.
Michele Lefkowitz is the Director of Legal Programs for Partners, a non-profit organization that advocates in the courts and through policy for victims of domestic and sexual violence and their children. Michele has been a practicing attorney for over 20 years. Beginning her career in complex commercial litigation, Michele eventually found her passion as a pro bono attorney working with abused women and children. Michele transitioned to public interest work in 2012 when she joined Partners. Since joining Partners, she has helped hundreds of victims obtain Final Restraining Orders, custody of their children and financial stability through awards of child and spousal support. Michele leads an excellent team of attorneys and paralegals that provide high quality legal advocacy for all of Partners’ clients. Michele not only advocates in court, but has also done significant work in helping to effect systemic change in policies that impact the safety, wellbeing and the quality of life of all domestic and sexual violence victims in New Jersey.
Michele is a graduate of Fordham University School of Law and New York University. She is admitted to practice in New Jersey, New York, several Federal District Courts, and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. She serves as a member of five county Domestic Violence Working Groups, the NJ State Domestic Violence Working Group, and sits on multiple New Jersey Supreme Court Committees.
Ena Marsan, DO, MPH, FACOOG
Dr. Ena Marsan is is a board-certified obstetrician/gynecologist originally from Bergen County, New Jersey. She has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia and continued her education at Rutgers University School of Public Health, where she earned a Master of Public Health degree with a focus on Health Care Organization & Administration. She rounded out her educational studies by graduating from the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine in Long Island, NY, completing her rotating internship in Philadelphia, PA, at St. Joseph’s Hospital (North Philadelphia Health System), and graduating from Obstetrics & Gynecology residency training at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, NY.
Over the past twenty years, as an attending physician, Ena has spent most of her career working in Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC). She has worked with women of all ages, providing them with the care they needed at different times throughout their lives. During her time working at FQHCs in Paterson & Jersey City, she also served as Director of Women’s Health at both facilities, where she was responsible for creating and implementing health care policies & protocol within the department of Women’s Health. After working at FQHCs, she transitioned into private practice, working as an office gynecologist in New York City & in Bergen County, New Jersey.
Currently, Ena is the Associate Medical Director of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan NJ in Newark, NJ.
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