After decades of work by feminists to criminalize domestic violence, more recently feminist abolitionists have identified the harm that the carceral state has on all impacted by it, including victims/survivors. Based on interviews with a diverse sample of 22 women and men who were system impacted, we find evidence of cases in which the criminal legal system both helped and harmed the victim/survivor. We identify policy interventions that promote alternative methods to intervening in intimate partner violence relationships that center the victim/survivor, create safety, and reduce the increased surveillance and overall impact of the criminal legal system.
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