In “Feminist Accountability: Disrupting Violence and Transforming Power,” Ann Russo, the book’s author, examines accountability as a set of perspectives and techniques for society and campaign building in opposition to oppression and violence. She studies several mechanisms that significantly affect ending violence against women. The book focuses on reorganizing authority to make the world a better place for women. The fourth chapter, “Shifting Paradigms to End Violence,” explores the efforts of feminists of color to enhance current women’s and standardized approaches to sexual and interpersonal violence utilized by social service and legal advocacy groups. These endeavors rely only on the criminal justice system to ensure accountability for the continuance of violence.
As a result of their critical engagement with the institutionalization of violence, feminist efforts over the past two decades to end violence have grown increasingly political. It is a direct effect of the institutionalization of violence. By analyzing violence as a problem that stems from personal conflict, Russo (2019) provides a concrete illustration of the precise processes that underlie these transformations. Throughout the chapter, Russo (2019) discusses how community responsibility and transformative justice alter the focus and direction of antiviolence campaigns, shifting the emphasis away from social aid and legal advocacy and toward building a community-based movement. She emphasizes the necessity of shifting one’s perception of violence as a problem that stems from interpersonal conflict to one that stems from repressive systems. She puts much weight on the importance of agency expertise, community-based knowledge, and leadership, shifting the focus from punishment to accountability in fighting to end violence against women.
Russo advocates for the necessity of constructing movements that not only put an end to violence but also establish a society predicated on radical freedom, mutual accountability, and emotional reciprocity. She argues that it should be founded on a shared commitment to guaranteeing the survival and welfare of all individuals and that this should be stressed (2019). She makes a veiled reference to the fact that in this society, safety and security will not be contingent on the use of violence or the fear of violence.
Russo is aware that the issue of violence against women is not merely one that pertains to women themselves as a group. Women and families worldwide have been impacted as a result of this. It is a common misconception, yet widespread nonetheless, that women are the more fragile gender. Most societies consider women to be property, and the practice of grooms paying a bride price, which gives them the impression that they are buying a wife, has contributed significantly to the propagation of this idea. Russo emphasizes the challenges these women face when speaking out against violence against women of color (Russo, 2019). She suggests the necessity of involving the community’s people in building consciousness to enable the community to provide collective support, intervention, accountability, and transformation. She highlights the importance of community accountability as a means through which members of society can collectively respond to acts of violence. In exchange, those negatively impacted receive community support rather than being humiliated and mistreated.
In conclusion, Russo proposes shifting paradigms that involve engaging the community. This act ensures that women of color can air their complaints and that the entire human race, comprising of the minority and majority. She provides examples that show the essential role that is committed against women. She serves as an example of the positive effects that can result when all members of society take the appropriate actions to speak out against the abuses done against women.
Reference
Russo, A. (2019). Shifting Paradigms to End Violence. In Feminist accountability: Disrupting violence and transforming power (pp. 85–109). New York University Press.