A review by jtllnt
The Feminist and the Sex Offender: Confronting Sexual Harm, Ending State Violence by Erica Meiners, Judith Levine

1.5

While I agreed with the authors on some points, I ultimately can't get over the way they willfully cherry-picked and misrepresented data and individual stories to fit their narrative, focused nearly all of their energy on building empathy for perpetrators of sexual violence, deeply misunderstood and misinterpreted child development, and failed to properly cite some of their most outlandish claims. This book was so frustrating to me because I wanted a thoughtful examination of a different way forward for survivors of sexual violence that delivers healing and justice in a way the criminal justice system doesn't. Instead I read a book by two women who, by their own admission, have never experienced sexual violence and obviously fail to understand the colossal impact it has on one's life. Before reading this book, I'd recommend looking up the review Moira Donegan wrote on Bookforum.