Using Victims' Voices to Prevent Violence Against Women: A Critique

AuthorMarian Duggan
Pages25-37
25


  

Abstract Several changes to the UK criminal justice system have led to an increasing
visibility and engagement wit h victims after decades of concentrating mainly on offenders.
Victim-focused policies have advanced from homogenising responses to victims of crime
through to appreciating the diversity in victims’ needs and wants, while also seeking to
reduce or prevent future victimisation. However, several ‘victim-fo cused’ crime prevention
policies are paradoxically dependent on the creation of a victim in the first place. This
paper considers this contradiction in relation to two recent Coalition Government
proposals. Both the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme and plans to criminalise stalking
behaviours rely upon victimisation already having taken place. The paper argues that
these supp osedly ‘preventative’ proposals are in fact responsive and problematic as their
implementation relies upon the creation of victims. Furthermore, it suggests that rather
than effectively preventing abuse, victims’ voices are instead being used to enhance and
expand legislation. The paper suggests that criminal justice policies alone are unable to
prevent violence against women and that more engagement needs to occur outside of the
criminal justice arena.
Keywords victimisation, harm, justice, gender, policy

The current positioning of victims within the criminal justice system (CJS) is one of greater
visibility and consideration than has been previously witnessed. Traditionally offender-
focused in its approach, those tasked with overseeing criminal justice have strengthened
their commitment to addressing victims’ needs and wants. However, such developments
have occurred as a result of pressure from specialist interest groups, not as a philanthropic
endeavour by those working in the CJS. The rise in official and unofficial victims’
movements during the latter part of the 20th century played an integral part in this
change, often speaking on behalf of victims in order to have their experiences and needs
5
The author would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments during the
drafting of this paper.
British Journal of Community Justice
©2012 Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield
ISSN 1475-0279
Vol. 10(2): 25-37

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