Finding Justice for Victims in the #MeToo Era

The concept of carceral feminism sees law enforcement as the primary solution to gender-based violence. When the United States passed the Violence Against Women Act in 1994, it was considered a landmark bill to finally address domestic violence. The bill provided billions of dollars to fund more police officers and prisons, and introduced punitive sentencing to curb domestic violence.

More than two decades later, it has left many women in less affluent and marginalized communities even more vulnerable to violence. Since many communities of color are already overpoliced, victims are often reluctant to call the police for fear of being met with trauma and criminalization.

The Open Society Foundations have a history of supporting transformative systems of justice. Transformative justice is a community-based process where individuals are able to address and repair the harm on their own terms, and to define what justice looks like to them. In many ways, the #MeToo movement is beginning to confront the wrongs of carceral feminism through a more democratized process of addressing injustice.

At a recent panel, activists and authors identify potential opportunities and pitfalls in the search for justice for victims in the #MeToo era. Listen above.