ABSTRACT
This chapter engages with some of the difficult challenges that arise when the issue of gender- and sex-based violence is considered in relation to abolitionist practice and the radical changes it necessitates. For too long, states and their institutions have failed to acknowledge the extent and nature of ‘harm’ in this context, resulting in ongoing calls for more policing, enforcement of existing laws and punitive practices from a variety of reform and activist groups. While having some symbolic resonance, such responses fail to tackle the deeper issues that require individual engagement, community responses and radical structural change. This chapter engages with this issue and considers what real alternatives to punitive paternalism may offer.
