Imperfect Victims: Criminalized Survivors and the Promise of Abolition Feminism

Imperfect Victims argues that the carceral system must be dismantled to protect criminalized survivors of gender-based violence. It amplifies the voices of survivors and shows the possibility of a just world beyond the carceral state.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 296 pages
Publication date: 31 January 2023
Publisher: University of California Press

Since the 1970s, anti-violence advocates have worked tirelessly to make the legal system more responsive to gender-based violence. However, the increased state intervention in cases of intimate partner violence, rape, sexual assault, and trafficking has resulted in the arrest, prosecution, conviction, and incarceration of victims, particularly women of color and trans and gender-nonconforming people.

In her book, "Imperfect Victims," abolitionist law professor Leigh Goodmark argues that only dismantling the system will bring an end to this punishment. Through the voices of survivors, including her own clients, Goodmark deftly guides readers on a step-by-step journey through the criminalization of survival. Abolition feminism reveals the possibility of a just world beyond the carceral state, which is fundamentally unable to respond to, let alone remedy, harm.

As "Imperfect Victims" demonstrates, abolition feminism is the only politics and practice that can undo the indescribable damage inflicted on survivors by the very system purporting to protect them. It is time for us to recognize the harmful effects of the carceral system and work towards a more just and equitable world for all survivors of gender-based violence.

Weight: 422g
Dimension: 228 x 154 x 19 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780520391123