ABSTRACT
Criminalization of intimate partner violence is not serving its regulatory function. Restorative justice could help. Supplementing the criminal legal response to intimate partner violence with restorative regulatory strategies could increase the justice options available to people who have been harmed and foster community accountability for intimate partner violence. Moreover, employing restorative justice in some cases of intimate partner violence could free up an overburdened criminal legal system to focus on habitual offenders. Rather than continuing to single-mindedly pursue criminalization, anti-violence advocates should look to restorative justice both to develop a new theoretical frame for the response to intimate partner violence and to implement concrete policies and practices that could prompt the kind of culture change needed to effectively regulate intimate partner violence and create the space for justice.
