This one is fairly disappointing, but makes some salutary points. Brodsky is a civil rights attorney with a pedigree of feminist anti-harassment activism on college campuses. She makes clear her commitment to justice for survivors and an end to sexual harassment. So I take her more seriously than I would others claims to stand for “due process,” which as Brodsky notes has been so horribly misused as to become meaningless in most cases. Brodsky offers a model of fair process that takes seriously

Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley One of the things I will always remember about the Brett Kavanagh hearings was putting on Blasey Ford’s testimony at the beginning of a class, and several female students thanking me for doing so. Of course, we later discussed the confirmation hearings and the fallout. It is to all the students, male and female, credit that no one ever brought the idea that Kavanagh was on trial, despite what many pundits kept trying to claim. During the hearings, then President Tru...

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this book. On one hand, I do understand on a surface level what this book is trying to say. There were just a bit too many legal details for me to really fully understand it. On the other hand, I was a little unsure about what the book was saying. I do think that everyone deserves a fair trial and due process. I do think that everything to do with sexual justice is complicated. But I also think that like SVU says these crimes are "especially heinous." This

This is really a wonderful book. Everything is so convincingly argued as to seem entirely obvious, even though the argument itself -- that institutions other than courts have to deal with all kinds of accusations of wrongdoing, that the fact that sexual misconduct has to do with sex has no bearing on the question of process, that justice for victims is entirely consistent with fair process for the accused -- seems to me at least to be original. Not that I'm an expert. I was familiar with some of...

Brilliant book on addressing sexual harassment fairly and empowering the victims. The book focuses on US, but there are many insights there relevant to other countries as well. Thus, highly recommended.

Personally, I think rapists should be treated like rabid dogs. However, if you would like to read a treatment of the issue of sexual assault and what can be done about it that is rigorously informed by ethical legal standards, this is a very good book. I thought the first and last sections were excellent. I appreciated her laying out clearly what can be done in civil court and non-court institutions, and that she mostly left the concept of "restorative justice" alone, which in my opinion is comp...

I was given a free ARC from the publisher for this review.This is a valuable book and a much needed one. With the #MeToo movement causing everyone to stop and think that maybe the way forward shouldn't look like the way things were done in the past, women need to know that there is hope and help in the justice system. Unfortunately humans remain obstinate, thinking of themselves over the rights of others and many people still view sex through a lens of what they want not what is best for all inv...

I took a break from my normal diet of SF and fantasy to read this. This was an interesting, absorbing, and often infuriating read (especially the chapter on Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation, and how the Republicans lied and obfuscated and ignored other accusers and did everything possible to shove this guy on the Supreme Court). For the most part, I found the author to be fair-minded and even-handed in her points. She is obviously concerned about due process for all, accuser and accused, and point...

I enjoyed the beginning of the book and some of the things Alexandra Brodsky had to say. However, and maybe this is because a lot of the legal nuances went over my head, the more I got into it more I felt like I couldn’t quite figure how where she stood.⠀There is no question that Ms. Brodsky is incredibly smart and knows the field very well. But I couldn’t actually tell what she was saying. Her premise seems simple enough, that both the victim and accused in a sexual assault should have rights.

Sexual Justice from Alexandra Brodsky is a wonderfully nuanced work that addresses the need for the #MeToo movement to move into the next stage. Awareness has been on the rise and all too often the right and the Men's Rights activists have used the excuse of due process to cover their actual goal of continuing impunity for misogynistic harassment and assault. Brodsky shows that due process is not what these disingenuous people are claiming it is and by offering options illustrates what a real fa...

Normally, I try my best to give long, involved, well thought out reviews to books I receive on Netgalley. I feel like that's only fair. If a publisher is willing to grant me free access to one of its books, I feel like I owe it to them to give a lengthy, well-written review, regardless of whether the review is positive or negative. I'm not going to do that with this book. I'm going to see that it is an ESSENTIAL read for anyone classified as a homo sapien and leave it at that. I don't care if yo...

This audiobook was amazing. The narration was beautiful. I went into this book expecting it to be very heavy, and yes some parts of it very much were; however, the author did a phenomenal job of focusing on disseminating information and awareness so that the reader can learn about the issues and laws at hand, and the support systems that are in place and those that are lacking for individuals involved in sexual assault. Interestingly enough, the author went on to discuss the rights of those accu...

3.5 rounded to 4. This text is important and the fight for sexual justice for victims of assault continues on with no signs of slowing down. It adapts rather than disintegrates. While I commend the author with their thorough research and care to not see it from only one perspective, I did find a lot of it to be too centrist on the issue. They bring up valid points about how it isn't treated seriously as a crime and on the other side is treated too harshly if we rush to punishment. Every step of

I am ambivalent about this book - I think it was really important for me to read concerning the past experiences I’ve had in terms of addressing sexual assault within our community, but I often felt more frustrated than heard at some points. Obviously there can often be a clear bias within feminist movements regarding the rights of the accused, but I’m not sure if the de-exceptionalism argument made throughout the whole book is the best answer, especially in schools. Especially for minors, these...

DNF. This is not a casual read. The author's legal background heavily influences her writing, making it difficult to enjoy this book, in my opinion. The author starts by arguing for the rights of victims of sexual assault, yet not much later she also argues for the rights of those accused of sexual assault. I don't disagree with either of those viewpoints, even though the second one is hard to remember sometimes that people are innocent until proven guilty. So, the author does have a valid, if n...

"Sexual Justice" by Alexandra Brodsky is a nonfiction work about the history of and failure to adequately address sexual harassment and sexual violence in the United States. Brodsky does include many suggestions on how we can combat these failures, which will require a cultural shift from individuals to institutions who do not act in favor of victims. Something that stood out to me is how people, especially politicians when is serves their own interests, to misconstrue the meaning and purpose of...

I cannot say enough good things about this book. As an activist against sexual assault I found so many of the arguments presented here compelling. There is a clear emphasis on fairness in this book, while at the same time providing safeguards for victims of sexual assault (as it should be). The review of current practices was extremely fair and unbiased in my opinion. We must do better when it comes to the treatment of these situations on our campuses. Our colleges are not equipped to conduct fo...

I was lucky to review an early copy of Alexandra Brodsky's wonderful new book, "Sexual Justice." In it, Brodsky cuts through the contentious headlines around the Me Too movement and the "due process" backlash, successfully framing how we as a society can work towards responding fairly when a person comes forward as a victim of sexual violence. Brodsky's central commitment is to treating everyone--both victims and the accused--with dignity, and she expertly recounts stories from both sides (victi...

I really appreciated how this book pushed back on a lot of the ways the Me Too movement has been framed in the media as oppositional to fair disciplinary processes, and how better and fairer practices in the law, school and the workplace can help everyone. One thing that is really lurking in the back of all this but that I hadn't quite noticed until Brodsky pointed it out is how sexual harassment/assault is viewed as unique from other types of misconduct in a way that introduces a lot of bias in...

This was a deeply researched meditation on due process in sexual harassment/harm investigations. The author dove into this topic and argued compellingly for a certain set of principles to remain consistent in any harassment procedure, to avoid exceptionalizing SH, and to avoid twisted narratives of what due process is, especially from the right. I thought this was well done, but I kept finding myself frustrated with the limitations the author imposed on herself. On one hand it’s reassuring to kn...

This was a heavy, detailed, legal-focused read, as I imagined it would be. Having formerly prosecuted sexual crimes in a major city, I was familiar with many of the legal aspects of the book. Though I do not work within the world of Title IX, I was a college-aged female in the US not too long ago and therefore experienced some of the advocacy the author discussed in the book. This was a necessary read, as the #MeToo movement is alive and well, and there are so many ways we can better the system....

The author here attempts to find better ways to deal with the ongoing problem of sexual harassment from verbal to rape. With many examples she shows how victims end up being portrayed as aggressors and the perpetrators as victims. Brodsky looks at the problem both within the legal system and in the educational system from secondary school through college. She points out many issues but a key finding is what she call exceptionalism which she doesn't like. She feels sexual injustices should be ha

Brodsky writes in an easy-to-understand style about complex and nuanced subjects. If you've ever heard anyone complain about a "violation of due process" in the past decade of activism against sexual harassment and assault -- especially on campuses -- this book is a must-read. You'll come away with a better understanding of what processes are fair to both the victims of sexual harassment and the accused perpetrators. This issue ain't going away, so it's about time we all tried to get it right. M...

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Very relevant to the times we live in--I found it deeply thoughtful, persuasive, and empathetic. It explains complicated legal concepts in accessible terms. It will cause MRA meltdowns, but it is full of real tangible solutions for navigating the complicated world of sexual misconduct accusations. Should be (and will be!) required reading on the subject.

This book was very well done, but extremely frustrating. In light of everything going on right now I feel so disheartened. It is all about rich white men protecting each other and their power. The fact that Kavanaugh has a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court makes my blood boil.

Thank you to Goodreads Giveaways for the opportunity to read this fascinating book.It includes many factual antedotes about victims who have strived for justice and freedom from harassment based on their sex.This was a very interesting book .Highly recommend.

Main takeaway: Sexual violence as a civil right issue.

A very accessible and thought-provoking read.

the chapter on de-exceptionalizing sexual harms was esp thought provoking