Citation

Cole S, Phillips L. Fem. Criminol. 2008; 3(2): 145-168.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1557085108317139

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article urges caution in reading the backlash against gender-sensitive policies as a global phenomenon. Drawing inspiration from Latin America, the authors consider how international agreements for nation-states to adopt measures to prevent violence against women have been taken up in proactive ways through the collaboration of international organizations, national governments, and expanding and evolving women's movements. The push for the development of democratic citizenship in Latin America has opened up possibilities for bringing awareness of violence against women to a public that is in the process of engaging with a range of social justice issues and collaborating on multiple fronts. The authors argue that strategic coalitions across difference have been central to the success of the efforts to combat violence against women. They show how new feminist alliances have not only helped denormalize and deprivatize gender violence but revitalized feminist issues as part of a broad front to build progressive societies.