Criminalisation and the Violence(s) of the State: Criminalising Men, Punishing Women

Kate Fitz-Gibbon,Sandra Walklate

doi:10.5204/ijcjsd.1991

Abstract

This special issue brings together a group of international researchers at different career stages with one common interest: the extent to which recourse to the criminal law as a means of addressing men’s violence(s) serves the interests of women’s safety. It further explores Goodmark’s (2018) criminalisation thesis across different vital topics to consider how and under what conditions the criminalisation of men results in the punishment of women. In bringing together these different substantive areas of investigation (from the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War to debates concerning the criminalisation of prostitution, migration and the unintended consequences of criminalising coercive control), this collection provides a deeper analysis of the meaning of both criminalisation and punishment for women whose lives become entangled in and by this recourse to law.

Highlights

This special issue of the International Journal of Crime, Justice and Social Democracy focuses on criminalisation and violence against women
The political and economic connections between the recourse to law and the perpetuation of responsibility as lying in ‘bad character’ (Lacey 2013) have taken their toll on women. This special issue directly contributes to an understanding of these complex issues and, to building the evidence base on the impact of law in practice on women
The issue begins with an article by Goodmark in which she builds upon her previous contributions to this debate by focusing on what she describes as ‘perhaps the most serious unintended consequence’ of efforts to criminalise violence against women – the criminalisation of victim-survivors’. Focusing her analysis on the impacts of the criminal law in the US, Goodmark sets out the challenges of justice system responses that, on the one hand, recognise an individual’s victim status but, on the other, respond punitively to their protective actions and inability to conform to ideal victim stereotypes

Summary

Introduction

This special issue of the International Journal of Crime, Justice and Social Democracy focuses on criminalisation and violence against women. The tension between intervention and its (unintended) consequences has been a persistent feature of informed feminist debates and, recently, has been subjected to serious critical scrutiny by Goodmark (2018) She interrogated the recourse to criminal law in responding to violence(s) against women by asking three questions: Does the behaviour being targeted by the law result in harm? The political and economic connections between the recourse to law and the perpetuation of responsibility (for crime) as lying in ‘bad character’ (Lacey 2013) have taken their toll on women This special issue directly contributes to an understanding of these complex issues and, to building the evidence base on the impact of law in practice on women

The Move Towards Law in Improving Responses to Violence Against Women

This Special Issue

Conclusion