Abstract
This Essay offers a thought experiment designed to challenge
existing perceptions of crime victimhood by replacing prevalent social
narratives with alternative ones in an effort to break the stereotypes
that shape victimhood and, instead, to empower the victim. Using
intersectionality as a theoretical framework, we suggest a different
reading of the identity characteristic of crime victimhood: not as
representing weakness and helplessness but as granting personal and
social power. The proposed conceptual change is not merely
symbolic but has important practical implications. The #MeToo
campaign of 2018 and the Larry Nassar case illustrate our claim and
show that recognition of the prevalence of crime victimhood affects
the empowerment of the victims’ group in ways that enable the
expansion of the modes of action by group members, eliminating the
shame and transferring power to victims.
existing perceptions of crime victimhood by replacing prevalent social
narratives with alternative ones in an effort to break the stereotypes
that shape victimhood and, instead, to empower the victim. Using
intersectionality as a theoretical framework, we suggest a different
reading of the identity characteristic of crime victimhood: not as
representing weakness and helplessness but as granting personal and
social power. The proposed conceptual change is not merely
symbolic but has important practical implications. The #MeToo
campaign of 2018 and the Larry Nassar case illustrate our claim and
show that recognition of the prevalence of crime victimhood affects
the empowerment of the victims’ group in ways that enable the
expansion of the modes of action by group members, eliminating the
shame and transferring power to victims.
| Original language | American English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 85-116 |
| Journal | Fordham Urban Law Journal |
| Volume | 47 |
| State | Published - 2019 |
