Intersectionality in the Criminal Justice System

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Recommended: Restorative justice theories

The criminal justice system is dynamic and has changed rapidly since the works of Cesare Beccaria and Cesare Lombroso during Enlightenment Period and this reflects in the issue of intersectionality with the changing approaches taken towards concepts of gender, race and class. Sexual assault will be a predominate study used throughout the essay to examine the different approaches and issues between traditional and non-traditional justices. This essay will first establish where are these intersectionalities found in terms of sexual assault cases and the challenges victims face in the legal process with traditional approaches then followed by a comparison to the transition towards non-traditional alternative justice system has responded with a deeper insight into restorative justices and its effects on resolving these challenges. The role of alternative justice and the key challenges in disproportionate crimes are also important aspects of intersectionality in Australia as they aim to resolve challenges women and the mentally disabled encounter during processing through court in the criminal justice system.

Gender is predominating in the criminal justice system and sexual assault exemplifies the contrast found between the traditional and non-traditional justice systems employed over time. Sexual assault poses a social threat to all aspects of community, spreading insecurity in 43400 victims across Australia and 13300 victims in NSW alone as indicated in the recent Australian Bureau of Statistics Crime Victimisation Report. (ABS 2011, p. 40) There has also been an increase of sexual assault by 51% since 1995 with an average of 4% every year. (ABS 2010) Another major issue within the boundaries of sexual assault is that it holds one...

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... the Root Causes of Sexual Assault. Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault, [Online]. Available at: http://www.ccasa.org/documents/Root_Causes_Short_Descriptions.pdf, [Accessed 14 April 2011].

• Prenzler, T. 1995. Equal employment opportunity and policewomen in Australia. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 28/3, 258-77.

• Strang, H. 2002. Repair or Revenge: Victims and Restorative Justice. Clarendon Press, Oxford.

• Taylor, N. 2007. ‘Juror attitudes and biases in sexual assault cases’, Trends and issues in crime and criminal justice, no. 344. Australian Institute of Criminology.

• Taylor, N & Joudo, J. 2005. “The impact of pre-recorded video and closed circuit television testimony by adult sexual assault complainants on jury decision-making: an experimental study”, Research and Public Policy Series, No. 68, Australian Institute of Criminology.

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