Up Against a Wall: Rape Reform and the Failure of Success
"At last, a comprehensive and scholarly account of the antirape movement that should sound the alarm at how little law in action has changed, despite policy successes with rape law on the books. Corrigan’s searing analysis makes a major contribution to political science, sociology, law, and public policy. Following Patricia Yancey Martin’s organizational analysis of why rape policy reforms have so little effect on priorities, the treatment of victims, prosecutions, convictions, and public attitudes, Corrigan reveals how a social movement has lost its ability to advocate effectively. This must read for all who care about women’s equality should sound the alarm to turn our attention to policy implementation and social movement mobilization."-Sally J. Kenney,Tulane University"In an era when gender mainstreaming is hailed globally as the primary tactic to achieve gender equality, Rose Corrigan offers a cautionary tale. By focusing on rape law reform over four decades, she demonstrates how feminist policy objectives are systemically undercut by bureaucratic intransigence and standard operating procedures within gendered state institutions. From legislatures and law enforcement agencies to rape crisis centers, she traces the evisceration of feminist transformative efforts as the law is deployed with little concern for the well-being of those who have been raped. This vital contribution to feminist theory and practice should be read by all concerned with social change in the 21st century."-Mary Hawkesworth,Professor of Political Science and Women's and Gender Studies, Rutgers UniversityProfessor Corrigan's book,Up Against a Wall: Rape Reform and the Failure of Success, is indispensable reading for anyone who cares about sexual violence and the failure of law reform to live up to the promise it once held for victims of sexual violence. It is also an invaluable tool for anyone concerned about the dynamics of law reform and legal consciousness. Using an empirical, qualitative study of Rape Crises Centers and counsellors in six diverse states as her framework, Corrigan engages in a multi-layered, nuanced examination of the history of rape law reform to demonstrate that reliance on the criminal justice system led to the loss of original feminist goals. She argues rape and sexual assault issues were abandoned by feminists who lost sight of the relationship of sexual assault to gender inequality as they moved on to other projects. She then turns to current issues that have produced perverse effects for victims. She challenges us to look for creative solutions outside the criminal law as well as within to problems she identifies and for a return to an emphasis on gender equality and real rights and protections for victims in this important book.-Lynne Henderson,Professor Emerita, University of Nevada Las Vegas