Feminism, Violence Against Women, and Law Reform

"Feminism, Violence Against Women and Law Reform is a testament to the power of feminist decolonial thinking in a resiliently patriarchal, colonial and violent world. Its central argument is devastating. Whether in the form of reactionary criminalisation or in the apparently more progressive guise of human rights advocacy, liberal legality continues to dominate the public debate about violence against women. Indeed, neither the demise of formal colonialism nor the effort to transcend neoliberalism has done anything to undermine this dominance, let alone the impervious levels of violence that women all over the world continue to face. What then? An epistemic break in the form of a decolonial feminist abolitionist agenda – this is Tapia Tapia’s answer. To get there and beyond is everyone’s task."

- Luis Eslava, Reader in International Law, Kent Law School, University of Kent.

"In this innovative and wide-ranging socio-legal history of initiatives tackling violence against women in Ecuador, Silvana Tapia Tapia makes a key contribution to the growing field of post-colonial legal studies. In her illuminating analysis of the Ecuadorian case, she problematizes what has been taken in much literature to be an analytic association between neoliberalism and the feminist embrace of penality, suggesting instead that, even in the context of left-wing governments, penal expansion in the field of violence against women has been fed by both colonial discourses and, ironically, the appeal to human rights. Her book has important implications both across and beyond Latin America."

- Nicola Lacey, School Professor of Law, Gender and Social Policy, LSE.

"Tapia Tapia’s excellent book is a vital intervention on a contemporary topic of the utmost importance and urgency: the deployment of carcerality in the name of liberation. Focusing on the feminist alliance with the State’s carceral power over the course of significant political change in Ecuador, the study’s account of the process, pitfalls and alternatives to this alignment is based on painstaking research and remarkable critical insight. Tapia Tapia’s findings, particularly regarding the lure and ramifications of penality for progressive agendas, are sensitive to the context in which her research is embedded, but also carry significant implications for anyone seeking to understand and fight oppression anywhere. Ultimately, the author eloquently delivers a call to ‘unlearn’ and undo rights-based penality, embracing a counter-carceral approach that transcends the pull of liberal legality and reimagines both emancipation and protection through a decolonial feminist lens."

- Natasa Mavronicola, Reader in Law, Birmingham Law School, University of Birmingham.

Winner of the 2023 Hart-SLSA Book Prize

"Feminism, Violence Against Women and Law Reform is a testament to the power of feminist decolonial thinking in a resiliently patriarchal, colonial and violent world. Its central argument is devastating. Whether in the form of reactionary criminalisation or in the apparently more progressive guise of human rights advocacy, liberal legality continues to dominate the public debate about violence against women. Indeed, neither the demise of formal colonialism nor the effort to transcend neoliberalism has done anything to undermine this dominance, let alone the impervious levels of violence that women all over the world continue to face. What then? An epistemic break in the form of a decolonial feminist abolitionist agenda – this is Tapia Tapia’s answer. To get there and beyond is everyone’s task." Luis Eslava,Reader in International Law, Kent Law School, University of Kent, UK.

"In this innovative and wide-ranging socio-legal history of initiatives tackling violence against women in Ecuador, Silvana Tapia Tapia makes a key contribution to the growing field of post-colonial legal studies. In her illuminating analysis of the Ecuadorian case, she problematizes what has been taken in much literature to be an analytic association between neoliberalism and the feminist embrace of penality, suggesting instead that, even in the context of left-wing governments, penal expansion in the field of violence against women has been fed by both colonial discourses and, ironically, the appeal to human rights. Her book has important implications both across and beyond Latin America." Nicola Lacey,School Professor of Law, Gender and Social Policy, LSE, UK.

"Tapia Tapia’s excellent book is a vital intervention on a contemporary topic of the utmost importance and urgency: the deployment of carcerality in the name of liberation. Focusing on the feminist alliance with the State’s carceral power over the course of significant political change in Ecuador, the study’s account of the process, pitfalls and alternatives to this alignment is based on painstaking research and remarkable critical insight. Tapia Tapia’s findings, particularly regarding the lure and ramifications of penality for progressive agendas, are sensitive to the context in which her research is embedded, but also carry significant implications for anyone seeking to understand and fight oppression anywhere. Ultimately, the author eloquently delivers a call to ‘unlearn’ and undo rights-based penality, embracing a counter-carceral approach that transcends the pull of liberal legality and reimagines both emancipation and protection through a decolonial feminist lens." Natasa Mavronicola,Reader in Law, Birmingham Law School, University of Birmingham, UK.

"Tapia Tapia’s impressive research in Feminism, Violence Against Women, and Law Reform: Decolonial Lessons from Ecuador provides a paradigm for how to move beyond a superficial ‘for or against criminal law’ debate, with its rich material, theoretical insights and well-founded critique that goes to the heart of liberal law." Linnea Wegerstad, Associate Professor of Criminal Law, Lund University, Sweden.