Submitted by: Jessica Gordon-Nembhard, Professor, Community Justice and Social Economic Development in the Dept. of Africana Studies at John Jay College
To read online: “Critical Resistance-Incite! Statement on Gender Violence and the Prison-Industrial Complex.”
Reproduces the mission statements of the US-based organizations Critical Resistance & its offshoot, Women of Color against Violence, both movements formed 1998-2000 to combat violence against women & people of color. It is argued that women of color suffer disproportionately from both state & interpersonal violence, but have been marginalized from more mainstream anti-violence movements organized by feminists or minority males. Problems with the focus of such movements on the criminal justice system & law enforcement are identified. The negative impacts of the increased criminalization of women of color, including sex workers, lesbians, & the poor & disabled, are addressed, & a call is made for greater activist efforts to improve police accountability & decrease the use of imprisonment for such disadvantaged women. Specific strategies that social justice movements must take to end violence against women & children are suggested. Signatories to these statements, including both individuals & organizations, are listed.
Accessed via the Internet at the organization’s website. The statement was published in the following: Critical Resistance and Insight! 2003. “Critical Resistance-Incite! Statement on Gender Violence and the Prison-Industrial Complex.” Social Justice Vol. 30, No. 3; Criminal Justice Periodicals, pp. 141 – 150.
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