SCCJR Justice Future Seminar Series

Professor McGlynn particularly discusses the experiences and perspectives of survivors of digital and online sexual violence.

Challenging anti-carceral feminism: justice perspectives of survivors of tech-facilitated violence against women and girls.

Clare McGlynn, Durham University.

While anti-carceral feminism – which challenges the use of the criminal law and criminal justice system to tackle violence against women – is increasingly dominant, this presentation builds on an emerging body of work contesting its central premises. I suggest that some anti-carceral feminism risks reifying existing criminal law categories and reproducing sexual violence myths and stereotypes. I particularly discuss the experiences and perspectives of survivors of digital and online sexual violence.

The aim is to encourage a nuanced, complex approach to the criminal law and criminalisation which recognises both a role for criminal justice and alternatives; which listens to the voices of all survivors, including those whose understanding of justice includes criminal justice; and which is fully alive to the risks and challenges that all justice approaches entail whether state or community based.

Bio:

Professor Clare McGlynn KC (Hon) is a Professor of Law at Durham University and an expert on violence against women and girls, including deepfake abuse, image-based sexual abuse and cyberflashing. She has worked closely with survivors, civil society including Rape Crisis Scotland, and politicians, to strengthen laws on extreme pornography and online abuse, as well working with colleagues in the SCCJR on Project Soteria strengthening police investigations of rape. She is a member of the Council of Europe’s Expert Committee on Technology-Facilitated Violence Against Women and regularly advises parliaments, governments, civil society and internet platforms. Her book Exposed - the rise of extreme porn and how we fight back is published in May 2026. She is also the co-author of Image-Based Sexual Abuse: a study on the causes and consequences of non-consensual sexual imagery (2021) and Cyberflashing: recognising harms, reforming laws (2021).
https://www.claremcglynn.com/

Reading: McGlynn, C. (2022). Challenging anti-carceral feminism: Criminalisation, justice and continuum thinking. Women’s Studies International Forum, 93, Article 102614. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2022.102614

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The SCCJR Justice Futures Seminar is brand new series for 2026.

This monthly series will engage with a range of concerns and questions relating to new and evolving social harms, how social systems and institutions can contribute to, or alleviate, harms and injustices and how justice futures might be re-enacted or reimagined.

You are all welcome to join us for these informal online lunchtime sessions. You can see a full list in the table below.

For a full list of our upcoming seminars please see table below. Join our mailing list or follow us on BlueSky, TikTok and LinkedIn @TheSCCJR for updates on future events and news from the Centre.

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