“We Keep us Safe!”: Abolition Feminism as a Challenge to Carceral Feminist Responses to Gendered Violence

Abstract

The well-known movement chant “we keep us safe” disrupts carceral logics that deem policing—and the criminal punishment system more broadly—as sites of public safety and protection from violence and instead situates the source of safety within the community. Nevertheless, activist calls for community-centered alternatives to harm and violence occur alongside increasing backlash from media, legislators, and community members alike, who assert that, while flawed, police remain crucial for public safety—claims grounded in carceral feminist approaches to violent crime. More specifically, supporters of police as the site of safety commonly raise concerns related to victims of gendered intimate partner and sexual violence. In this article, we draw on 131 interviews from two studies with community activists, antiviolence advocates (both within and outside the state), and survivors to examine how they make sense of abolition and transformative justice in relation to their own lives, their work, their communities, and the state. Although participants may not use the actual language, our findings highlight abolition feminism as the framework guiding their critiques of the criminal punishment system, their visions for safety, and the everyday nuances they identify in seeking responses to gendered harm and violence beyond policing.

Plain Language Summary

“We Keep Us Safe!”: Community Safety Responses to Gendered Violence

The well-known movement chant “we keep us safe” challenges the idea that the criminal justice system is a source of safety and protection from violence. Instead, this chant reminds us that true safety is found within the community. Nevertheless, activist calls for community-centered alternatives to harm and violence happen at the same time that media, politicians, and community members claim that, while flawed, police remain crucial for public safety. More specifically, supporters of police as the source of safety commonly raise concerns related to victims of gendered intimate partner and sexual violence. In this article, we draw on 131 interviews from two studies with community activists, antiviolence advocates (both within and outside the state), and survivors to examine how they understand abolition and transformative justice in relation to their own lives, their work, their communities, and the state. While participants may not use the actual language, our findings highlight abolition feminism as the source of ideas guiding their critiques of the criminal justice system, their visions for safety, and the everyday tensions they identify in seeking responses to gendered harm and violence beyond policing.