Transforming the Norm for Survivors: Legal and Community-Based Solutions to Sexual Violence in the U.S.
Abstract: For survivors of sexual violence, documented deficiencies in the legal system and lack of access to alternate strategies for combating violence prevent survivors and their communities from finding justice and healing. Yet few resources on this issue propose policy reforms alongside robust, existing community-based strategies in order to more holistically address sexual violence. This project analyzes the combined impact of both legal strategies and intersectional, community-based activism to address sexual violence, arguing that transformative justice and community accountability techniques, which do not rely on the state, can address the documented limitations of legal and institutional systems for responding to sexual violence. While policy changes within legal and institutional systems have increased protections for survivors, these pieces of legislation are also increasingly limited in power and efficacy. Intersectional feminist literature, toolkits, workbooks, and case studies provide examples of how to effectively utilize transformative justice strategies in response to sexual violence within communities. This project focuses on the case studies of the organization INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence and the student-run group Students for Sexual Respect at NYU to illustrate that transformative justice strategies can be effectively implemented to address sexual violence at colleges and universities, as well as within broader communities. Ultimately, this thesis utilizes these case studies to highlight different options for survivors of sexual violence so that survivors whose needs are not compatible with legal or institutional procedures can still find their own version of justice. Transformative justice and community accountability strategies provide survivors and communities impacted by sexual violence with the tools they need to transform rape culture, interrupt cycles of sexual violence, and better support survivors.
“Rachel Morrison: Oscar’s Bound for Mudbound”
Editorial article for Fusion Film Festival. Image courtesy of Rachel Morrison.
“For the first time in the Oscars’ 90 years, a female cinematographer’s work behind the camera is in the spotlight. In an awards season focused on equality and fair treatment in the entertainment industry, Rachel Morrison’s Oscar nomination for her work on director Dee Rees’s Mudbound stands out: she is the first woman ever nominated for Best Cinematography.”