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I feel like gender-based violence and prison abolition movements are only incompatible if you view prisons as a means of ending gender-based violence. Often times, you hear society calling for perpetrators of sexual violence to be put in prison or face some form of punitive justice. In that way, these two movements are incompatible because ending gender-based violence would continue to validate the existence of prisons; however, if we shift how we call for perpetrators of sexual violence to be held accountable, these two movements can co-exist.

Another reason I do not think these two movements are inherently contradictory is because prisons causes incredible amounts of harm to women. There are several studies on the ways that women are treated while giving birth, often being put in constraints that can be fatal or at the very least cause severe complications. Additionally, women in the carcel system as a whole is often just overlooked due to the fact that men are incarcerated at higher rates.

For these two reasons (prisons not being a means to ending gender-based violence and the harm prison cause to women), I do not see these movements as being incompatible. Rather, we have to shift how we have conceptualized the ideas of accountability and justice in order to work towards both goals simultaneously.

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The rise of social media, I feel, has become a powerful tool in helping survivors heal. For one, I think social media has made sharing stories and identifying instances of sexual violence easier. Often times you hear people express that they did not recognize something as sexual assault until they came across a similar story. Additionally, I think social media has allowed people to foster connections more easily and know that they are not alone (hence the whole concept of "MeToo"). It allows survivors to lean on a network while they go through the healing process and also helps to combat victim-blaming.

I think the survivor sanctuary, for these reasons, could be helpful in allowing an individual to take autonomy over their health and healing. I do, however, think it requires more than online tools to heal from an encounter of sexual violence.

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I believe the rise of the #metoo movement on social media was a much needed addition to the world. Social media is mostly accessible to everyone, which makes it a great source to spread information and experience’s people are having in society. Although traditional ways of holding people accountable for their assault is also beneficial, I think having a social media presence that can get more people aware and involved with the cause aids more survivors to have their stories shared and recognized.
I also liked the website that was provided. I think having different healing lessons that would allow the person to take their time and start their healing journey is wonderful. I also didn’t see a price to use it so I assumed it was free, which makes it more accessible to all survivors.
-Destiny

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Transformative justice “refers to a community process that address not only the needs of the person who was harmed, but also the conditions that enabled this harm” (Law). This approach refuses to look at violence as something that occurs among individuals in a vacuum, rather, it asks ‘What else needs to change so that this never happens again? What needs to happen so that the survivor can heal’” (Law)? This sentiment and the questions asked by this approach seem to directly mirror those posited by “the personal as political.”

The personal as political “sought to highlight the deeply political nature of sexual violence as a product of women’s social, cultural, and legal subordination, and to use this knowledge to facilitate institutional reforms” (Laney-Howes 21-22). With this, this approach attempted to shift focus to the institutions that created the conditions in which individuals will live, mirroring the approach of transformative justice and looking at conditions. Additionally, the personal as political keeps the individual in mind, using their “personal experiences to feed into political action and institutional change” and, thus, allowing them to maintain their centrality and be supported. Overall, these approaches seem relatively similar to each other as they both employ looking at the “systematic and institutionalized nature” of subordination and violence, pointing to the “deeper structural inequalities” that yield violence and rejecting the notion that violence is something that occurs on a solely individual level. However, it should be acknowledged that both have limitations in terms of favoring those already endowed with privilege through either race or socioeconomic status (etc).

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Considering the context of the world that we live in, I think that social media is a necessary strategy for sharing stories and gaining momentum for movements. In many ways, its employment seems nearly inevitable. However, this inevitability doesn’t free it from critiques as, despite the good work that it does, this work often falls short of its potential. This is for two key reasons; the first is that sharing a story on social media acts as a “double-edged sword” (Laney-Howes 28) insofar as it gives individuals “an opportunity to speak out and connect with other victim-survivors.” but also allows their stories to be “held up to public scrutiny and vilification” (28). Thus, because social media opens individuals up to attack after they share their stories, it falls short. A second reason for this is the fact that “Only some victim-survivors have had access to platforms from which to share their personal experiences in the public sphere” (30). The fact of the matter is that privilege seems to be a prerequisite to gain positive exposure on social media. People who aren’t endowed with this privilege often have “experiences of violence” and “political conditions of their lives” that are “too complex for population media outlets…to comprehend; [as] they do not neatly ‘fit’ within the discursive confines of #MeToo” (30). Thus, although social media can be good for exposure, it still has shortcomings that should be acknowledged alongside its power. These shortcomings hinder any overall effectiveness.

I could see the survivor sanctuary being potentially helpful to survivor-victims after the attack. It appears as though it provides a self-guided vehicle through which to approach healing. The multi-level approach (mind, body, and the two together) seems reminiscent of psychology’s biopsychosocial approach to many topics, something that has proven rather effective. However, I question whether or not solely online approaches have the power to help survivor-victims in the way that they need. An ideal approach would be more widespread access to therapy (etc., whatever one feels as though they need), but such access is currently gate kept (in America, at least) by the financial burden that could be incurred. With that, the survivor sanctuary is a cost-friendly approach in the right direction, but there is more to be done still, of course.

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What is the tie between the personal as political and transformative justice as shown through these readings?

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The #MeToo movement has largely gained momentum through online platforms and women, especially, sharing their stories publicly. What do you think of social media as a strategy compared to more “traditional” ones? Looking at the MeToo website (linked) do you think that the survivor sanctuary and other online methods are helpful in survivors’ paths towards healing?

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“Though efforts to end gender-based violence and prison abolition are often positioned as incompatible, Shim notes that ‘both are focused on ending violence,’ whether that violence is from an individual, the state or both” (Law).  Are gender-based violence movement and the prison abolition movements contradictory?  Can they work together?