Name: Rape Justice
ISBN: 9781137476142

Anastasia Powell

Asher Flynn

Nicola Henry

Beyond the Criminal Law

Rape Justice

Maggie Gordon

Stars 2.5

I had high hopes for Rape Justice: Beyond the Criminal Law, but the volume was weak. Around half the pieces dealt with more domestic considerations of how to deal with sexual assault outside of the traditional court structure (with a focus on the Australian system). The other half dealt largely with the use of international law. 

I had hoped that more of the pieces would give solutions rather than musings, but most of what was covered is ground that has already been discussed. If you are unfamiliar with the area, then the book offers you an array of introductions to issues on dealing with sexual assault without automatically resorting to retributive justice. 

A standout article was Lise Gotell's piece critiquing the critiques of so-called carceral feminism, taking a very Susan Faludi approach to unpacking how much of the criticism of feminist legal reform is based on misunderstandings (both purposeful and not) of what the movement was trying to do in the 1980s and 90s, where the state appropriated and misinterpreted the more intersectional concerns of activists (at least in the Canadian context).

Rape Justice Beyond the Criminal Law

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