Despite significant accomplishments over the past 35 years, antiviolence activists know that justice for most abused women remains elusive. Most victims do not call the police or seek help from the courts, making it crucial to identify new ways for survivors to find justice. This path-breaking book examines new justice practices for victims that are being used in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. These informal, dialogue-based practices, referred to as "restorative justice," seek to decrease the role of the state in responding to crime, and increase the involvement of communities in meeting the needs of victims and offenders. Restorative justice is most commonly used to address youth crimes and is generally not recommended or disallowed for cases of rape, domestic violence, and child sexual abuse. Nevertheless, restorative practices are beginning to be used to address violent crime. Restorative Justice and Violence Against Women considers both the dangers and potential benefits of using restorative justice in response to these crimes. The contributors include antiviolence activists and scholars from the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Some are strongly in favor of using restorative practices in these cases, some are strongly opposed, and many lie somewhere in between. Their chapters introduce a range of perspectives on alternative justice practices, offering rich descriptions of new programs that combine restorative justice with feminist antiviolence approaches. Controversial and forward-thinking, this volume presents a much-needed analysis of restorative justice practices in cases of violence against women. Advocates, community activists, and scholars will find the theoretical perspectives and vivid case descriptions presented here to be invaluable tools for creating new ways for abused women to find justice.

Part I. Overview: Restorative Justice and Feminist Activism 1. Resisting Co-Optation: Three Feminist Challenges to Anti-Violence Work, James Ptacek Part II. Critical Perspectives on Restorative Justice in Cases of Violence Against Women 2. The Role of Restorative Justice in the Battered Women's Movement, Loretta Frederick and Kristine C. Lizdas 3. At Cross Roads or Cross Purposes?: Aboriginal Women and Political Pursuit in Canadian Sentencing Circles, Rashmi Goel 4. A Community of One's Own?: When Women Speak to Power About Restorative Justice, Pamela Rubin 5. Restorative Justice, Gendered Violence, and Indigenous Women, Julie Stubbs 6. Restorative Justice for Domestic and Family Violence:Hopes and Fears of Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australian Women, Heather Nancarrow 7. Restorative Justice and Youth Violence Toward Parents, Kathleen Daly and Heather Nancarrow Part III. From Critique to New Possibilities: Innovative Feminist Projects 8. Opening Conversations Across Cultural, Gender, and Generational Divides: Family and Community Engagement to Stop Violence Against Women and Children, Joan Pennell and Mimi Kim 9. Alternative Interventions to Intimate Violence: Defining Political and Pragmatic Challenges, Mimi Kim 10. Restorative Justice for Acquaintance Rape and Misdemeanor Sex Crimes, Mary P. Koss 11. Restorative Justice and Gendered Violence in New Zealand: A Glimmer of Hope, Shirley Julich 12. Beyond Restorative Justice: Radical Organizing Against Violence, Andrea Smith