The question I would like to bring to class for discussion is about the issue of gender-based violence. What are some of the challenges that might happen when developing responses that do not rely on sexist, racist, classist, and homophobic criminal justice? Survivors of sexual violence must be protected and make sure that their safety is guaranteed. Criminalization has led to many women finding themselves in conflict with the law,especially women of color, from poor backgrounds, lesbians, sex workers, among others, and this brings the question of what strategies can be fronted to make sure that women who suffer from gender-based violence are safe and not in conflict with the law. There are numerous side effects to this, like funds being overly channeled to policing and prisons yet minimal reaches women welfare programs such as shelters and public housing.
When we rely too much on the criminal justice system,women do not get the power to organize themselves because they become disempowered and alienated collectively. The reliance on criminal justice has brought in individualistic approaches in the fight against violence. How can we end the endless and rampant forms of harassment like street harassment, harassment at workplaces, and intimate abuse? Which are the best strategies apart from policing and prisons, which can end gender-based violence? There are other groups like LGBT that face brutality, and there have to be ways to make them safe. What are some of these strategies that can be used?
