OurStanceontheCriminalJusticeSystem

Oneofthemostcommonquestionspeopleaskusis,Whatisyourpositionontheroleoflaw
enforcementinhandlingcasesofcampussexualviolence?Hereisourresponse:

NoRedTapebelievesthatthepolice,andthecriminaljusticesystemmorebroadly,arefundamentally
unfittohandlecasesofsexualviolence,andthatthissystemperpetuatesviolenceratherthan
preventingit.Beforeweexplainthereasonsforthisbelief,however,wefeelitisimportanttoreiterate
oneofourmostimportantvalues:weaffirmandactivelysupporteverysurvivorsrighttoseekjustice
andhealinginthewaythattheychoose.Whilewedonotbelievethecriminaljusticesystemwillcreate
aworldwithoutviolence,werecognizethatmanysurvivorshavefewviableoptionstoseekjusticeand
needimmediatemeasurestaken,i.e.restrainingorders,tofeelsafeandbeabletocontinuetheirlives.
Inthelongterm,NoRedTapeadvocatesforpoliciesandlawsthatcreateandstrengthenalternativesto
thelegalsystem,likecampusbasedprocesses,whichrespondtoviolenceinwaysthat
strengthen
communities.

TheNYPDhasalonghistoryofracialprofiling,discriminatorypolicies,andperpetuatingviolencein
communitiesofcolor,ratherthanstoppingorpreventingit.Rapeandsexualabusebypoliceare
primarilyreportedbywomenofcolor.1Womenofcoloralsoexperience
sexual
and
domestic
violence
atrateshigherthanthegeneralpopulation.Datarevealnearly50%oftranspeopleexperiencesexual
violence.2Giventhesefacts,weknowthatavastnumberofsurvivorsdonottrustthecriminaljustice
systemtokeepthemortheircommunitiessafe.

Inaddition,theNYPDareconsistentlyinsensitiveandretraumatizingforsurvivorswhodochooseto
reporttothem.Weveseenmanycasesfirsthandwherethepolicequestionedasurvivorsstory
becausetheydidntremembersmalldetails,ordeterredasurvivorfromfollowingthroughwiththe
reportbysayingthingslike,ForeverysinglerapeIvehad,Ivehad20thataretotalbullshit.Further,
forthosethatdochoosetopursuetheirreport,convictionsarerarelyachieved,oftenbecause
prosecutorsdecidetodropthecasebecausetheywouldrathernotrisklosingortheydonthavethe
resourcestocontinue.Dataindicatesthatonly6%ofrapesreportedtothepolicewillendwiththe
rapistinjail.3

Thecriminaljusticesystemisclearlyfailingsurvivorsoneverylevel.

Ithasbecomecleartous,timeandagain,throughpersonalexperienceandoverwhelmingstatistics,that
policesafety.Asanantiviolencegroup,wearededicatedtoendingallkindsofviolence.Itisthus
impossibleforustosupportasystemthathistoricallyandcontinuouslyperpetuatesviolenceagainst
1

Ritchie,AndreaJ.,andJoeyL.Mogul."IntheShadowsoftheWaronTerror:PersistentPoliceBrutalityandAbuse
ofPeopleofColorintheUnitedStates."
DePaulJ.Soc.Just.
1(2007):175.
2

Stotzer,R.(2009).Violenceagainsttransgenderpeople:AreviewofUnitedStatesdata.AggressionandViolent
Behavior,14,170179
3

ReportingRates|RAINN|Rape,AbuseandIncestNationalNetwork
.Rape,Abuse,andIncestNationalNetwork,n.d.
Web.19Apr.2015.<https://rainn.org/getinformation/statistics/reportingrates>.

manycommunities.Webelieveitispossibletocreateaworldfreeofviolence.Webelievethatserious
preventioneducationcouldstopviolencefromhappeninginthefirstplace,andthatresponsesto
violencecouldservetoeducateandtransformcommunities.

Thoughwedonotbelieveinacarceralapproachtoendingviolence,weseethatasfundamentally
differentthanpushingforharsherpunishmentsatacampuslevel.Inourpolicycampaign,wehave
foughtforaminimumofsuspensionorexpulsionincasesofextremeviolence,whilekeepinginmind
theneedsandwantsofthesurvivor.Forus,removingarapistfromcampusisnotthesamethingas
puttingahumaninjail.Thesepoliciesreflectourpriorityofcreatingacampusclimatewheresurvivors
canhealandthrive,whilenotsupportingsystemsthatfurtherperpetuateviolence.

Wealsorecognizethatwearealongwayfromaworldwithoutviolence,andthattherearecrucial
measureswecantakeinthemeantimetomakethiscampusandthisworldsaferforthepeoplemost
devastatinglyaffectedbysexualandotherformsofviolence.Inourlegislativeadvocacyworkatcity,
state,andfederallevels,wefighttoensurenewproposalsdontrelyonexpandingtheroleoflaw
enforcement.WhenweworkedwithGovernorCuomoonhisEnoughisEnoughproposalandPublic
AdvocateJamesonherNYCCampusSafetyAct,werefusedtopubliclysupporttheproposaluntil
legislatorsremovedmandatorypoliceinterventionandhelpedthemtodraftalternativepolicysolutions.
HereatColumbia,weareproposingchangestotheGenderBasedMisconductPolicythatwould
increaseeachsurvivorsagencyindeterminingtheappropriatesanctionsfortheircase.Inourpolicy
proposals,directactions,andlegislativework,weconstantlyadvocateforalternativestothecriminal
justicesystembecausewebelievethisistheonlywaytotrulyeliminategenderbasedviolence.We
prioritizetheimprovementofcampusadjudicationprocessesbecauseitisanimportantalternative
systemtoseektruejusticeforsurvivors.

Suggestedfurtherreadingonwhywedontsupportexpandingtheroleoflawenforcement:

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/25/womenofcolorpolicesexualassaultracist
criminaljustice

http://feministing.com/2014/04/11/stoptellingsurvivorstheymustreporttothepolice/

http://mic.com/articles/115366/wehavetostoptellingsurvivorsitstheirdutytoreportsexualassaul
t

http://knowyourix.org/whyschoolshandlesexualviolencereports/