If you find it challenging to explain to friends and acquaintances why our sex-offender laws have gone so terribly wrong, have them take a look at this 17-minute video by Alissa Ackerman, a University of Washington criminologist who’s authored numerous studies on sexual victimization and sex-crime policies over the last decade.

How did our sex-offense laws come to be? Do they work? Do they help victims of sex crimes? What would actually help them? Ackerman’s talk packs a lot of information into a few minutes.

Ackerman, by the way, is herself a survivor of sexual assault, as explained in this great piece she coauthored on Psychology Today’s website with Jill Levenson.