Domestic violence is commonly assumed to be a bipartisan,
nonpolitical issue, with politicians of all stripes claiming to work to end
family violence. Nevertheless, the Violence Against Women Act expired for over
500 days between 2012 and 2013 due to differences between the U.S. Senate and
House, demonstrating that legal protections for domestic abuse survivors are
both highly political and highly vulnerable. Racial and gender politics, the
move toward criminalization, reproductive justice concerns, gun control
debates, and political interests are increasingly shaping responses to domestic
violence, demonstrating the need for greater consideration of the interplay of
politics, domestic violence, and how the law works in people’s lives.
The
Politicization of Safety provides a critical historical perspective on domestic
violence responses in the United States. It grapples with the ways in which
child welfare systems and civil and criminal justice responses intersect, and
considers the different, overlapping ways in which survivors of domestic abuse
are forced to cope with institutionalized discrimination based on race, gender,
sexual orientation, and immigration status. The book also examines movement
politics and the feminist movement with respect to domestic violence policies.
The tensions discussed in this book, similar to those involved in the #metoo
movement, include questions of accountability, reckoning, redemption, healing,
and forgiveness.
What is the future of feminism and the movements against
gender-based violence and domestic violence? Readers are invited to question
assumptions about how society and the legal system respond to intimate partner
violence and to challenge the domestic violence field to move beyond old
paradigms and contend with larger justice issues.
- Publisher's description
