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A radical challenge to the ways anti-rape advocates work with the survivors of sexual assault
What is “victim advocacy” when regulated by the government? Victim advocates have long served as the designated support people for survivors of sexual violence. But in the neoliberal era, advocates no longer work at independent collectives supporting survivors through whatever means necessary, but instead operate at rape crisis centers, government-funded agencies with strict policies on the uses of their funding. In this compelling book, Melinda Chen argues that pressures from governmental granting agencies onto rape crisis centers have compelled advocates to turn away from their responsibility of challenging intersectional violence and instead lean into normative interpretations of rape and survivorship, hurting the most marginalized of victims.
Killing Radicalism demonstrates that even the most well-intentioned anti-rape activists can inadvertently harm survivors when they forgo an intersectional critique of the oppressive social and institutional structures around them. Through interviews with advocates from over 50 rape crisis centers, and drawing from her own experience as an advocate, Chen examines how neoliberalism affects anti-rape advocacy today. She shows that through everyday activities like grant writing or the compilation of survey data, advocates can inadvertently force victims out of the post-rape process through small-scale acts suggesting that they are not worthy victims.
Chen asks advocates to reconsider their relationship to racial and other marginalized peoples' movements to reimagine a radical politics that can resist hegemonic and normative state powers. Ultimately, this book is a wake-up call for advocates and scholars to reexamine their approaches to anti-violence work and prioritize the needs of all survivors.
"In Killing Radicalism, Chen offers a sharp and timely examination of how neoliberalism has reshaped the anti-rape movement. She centers survivors—especially queer survivors and survivors of color—whose voices are too often pushed aside. Chen shows how systems meant to help can also cause harm, while reminding us of the radical, community-based advocacy that has always driven real change. For those of us committed to ending sexual violence, this book is both a warning and an invitation to reclaim a bold, survivor-led movement."
"Chen challenges what we know, what we thought we knew, and the stories we tell of victim advocacy. She makes the radical proposal that rape abolition requires anti-rape activism apart from state services and funding, arguing for a thorough reconceptualization of victim advocacy from an intersectional, decolonial perspective. This accessible text is important reading for scholars and activists—and scholar-activists—dedicated to the abolition of rape."
"Killing Radicalism is a must-read in the current US political climate. Survivor services are facing historic budget cuts due to reduced government support and threats by the federal administration to withhold all funding if they so much as provide referrals for services to trans survivors. Chen's inspiring call for a redefinition of radicalism to effect social structural change could not be more timely."