From carceral feminism to transformative justice: Women-of-color feminism and alternatives to incarceration

Racial injustice at the intersections of interpersonal and state violence sets the stage for this examination of mainstream responses to domestic and sexual violence. At one end of this continuum is carceral feminism, a term signaling feminist reliance upon law enforcement as a dominant intervention strategy. At the other end is a growing tide of responses to gender violence alternative to criminalization, largely led by people of color. These restorative and transformative justice interventions offer new anti-violence options. They also prompt a re-imagining of the role of social work in relationship to social justice and social movements.