Many people agree that the United States carceral system is flawed. However, it can be difficult to discuss alternative ways to address violence that do not involve incarceration. Aside from the carceral system, there are other pathways to accountability and healing. Exploring these pathways for perpetrators of heinous crimes, such as sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), is an overwhelming and under-reviewed endeavor. This Comment seeks to broaden perspectives about how society can hold people accountable for committing acts of SGBV by surveying progressive prosecution, restorative justice, and transformative justice as potential alternatives to the current carceral system. Part I provides context, highlighting how mainstream feminist movements have partnered with the carceral system to address SGBV. Part II explains the shortfalls of the carceral system for both SGBV survivors and offenders, laying the foundation for why alternative pathways to accountability and healing are important. Part III surveys alternative strategies to address SGBV, specifically progressive prosecution and restorative justice. Part IV analyzes the merits of abolishing the carceral system and implementing transformative justice practices to heal harms caused by SGBV. Finally, Part V discusses critiques that transformative justice practices threaten the safety of survivors, inadequately hold offenders accountable, and are too impractical to be realistic alternatives to incarceration.
