Law, transformative change and abolition feminism

Dr Nikki Godden-Rasul researches in the areas of sexual violence, law and justice with particular focus on transformative justice and restorative justice. Her Leverhulme Research Fellowship aims to develop a new analytic framework to determine how law can be used for transformative change, addressing gendered violence. 

About the project

Gender-based violence is endemic. Abolition feminism brings together police and prison abolition with feminist anti-violence work, understanding that gendered violence cannot be addressed through violent systems. Abolition feminism increasingly influences UK feminist activism, amplifying its calls to replace criminal legal institutions with community-based alternatives, such as transformative justice, especially as responses to gendered violence. However, abolitionist critiques of law can sometimes mask the fact that they are also part of a feminist tradition of using law for feminist ends. I am interested in the use of any area of law by feminists seeking to address gendered violence without relying on punitive systems. I am also interested in how law can be used in different ways (from strategic litigation to legal language in a campaign), and for different ends, as well as decisions not to engage with law. As part of this project, I will interview activists, organisers, lawyers, and gender-based violence sector workers to develop a new analytic framework to determine how law can be used for transformative change.