Really dynamic and impactful. A good luck into the justice system and the short-comings associated. A serious read that should be on everyones list.

This book feels like an important expose into the how the justice system not only fails sexual assaults victims in many ways, but also how the system itself and how it is built to function very much part of the problem. The topic of this book is obviously a sensitive one and Bodsky's empathy plays an important role in delivering this information in just the right tone.

An extremely well-written and well-researched book by a pioneer in the field. This book goes beyond the #MeToo hashtag and gives the reader a fully researched and well-supported education in sexual justice.

Brodsky’s work, both in real life and in this book, is commendable. “Sexual Justice” is a concept a lot of people, including women, may not have considered before. This book is at times dense, but it needs to be. The legal precedents it contains are important for every woman to know.

This book is a “Backlash” for the internet generation - like the former seminal work, Sexual Justice is chock full of facts, statistics and laws as well as examinations of sexual justice in popular culture, such as the R. Kelly case and of course Brett Kavanaugh. But some of the most compelling stories are everyday stories of plaintiffs and victims in cases you may never have heard of.

This was not an easy read but it is an important one. Five strong stars and great respect for the author. I will continue to watch her work.

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 the way the justice system has to hyper focus on the issue and destroy the notion that any kind of "sex" isn't a crime. The justice system will not change until the people in power view the crimes as actual crimes. There is so much more I have to say on this book but for now will leave it at this. Not to sound too blunt, many individuals view sexual assault as a lesser crime because the victim lived. The whole "but did you die?" mentality is rampant in the discussions regarding sexual justice. The Whataboutism is further diluting and degrading the valid arguments and viewpoints from the activists and survivors who are only asking for the bare minimum, justice.

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 book kept going on and on about how these crimes should be treated like everything else. At some points, I thought that this book was doing the opposition's job. I definitely have mixed feelings about this one and want to do more research about the arguments.

"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 due process. Also, Brodsky details how institutions regularly treat victims with suspicion and address their attacks in ways that often protects the accused over those who are seeking justice. While "Sexual Justice" discusses an important topic, the style of writing made it a bit hard to get through, but overall it was a worthwhile read.

Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley

One of the things I will always remember about the Brett Kavannagh 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 Trump referred to how tough men had it because they could, basically, be accused of sexual assault/harassment at drop of a hat and then their lives would be ruined.
Funny how that worked out Kavanagh, isn’t it?
It is true Brodsky’s credit that in her book, Sexual Justice, she takes seriously the reservations that some may have about how sexual harassment issues are dealt with in, primarily in schools but also in a boarder legal sense. No, she doesn’t treat Trump’s rhetoric seriously, though she does dismantle the assumptions that underlie it with grace and neutral tone. She focuses on what it means when those students or professor who are accused do not have access or full knowledge about how the process works, she deals with the question of race that can hang over some accusations as well as the history of why the defense in sexual assault cases is connected the way it is. She details the history of Title IX, the impact of both Trump and Obama on harassment cases in college, as well as educating the reader about the differences between the legal system and the system that may exist in a college as well as the public. She burns down the myths that several far-right groups have put forward about #MeToo and feminism.
More importantly, what she also presents is a solution, or to be more exact a format or guide, to deal with sexual assault cases both in terms of education but also by the public. Her use of history and various cases does this. She not only deals with survivors but also those who have been accused - and she clearly states what that person’s story and/or outcome was. Her prose is easily accessible.
IT is not a perfect book. While Brodsky does cite several studies over the course of the book, there are times I found myself wishing that some of those studies had been more recent (or if there was not a more recent study that this was made clear). I also, for the most part disliked the almost constant “I think” and “I believe” that proceed many statements. There are a few places in the book where this is needed - for instance when she is discussing race and harassment – but it is used way too much. It is your book, I presume it is your opinion unless you tell me otherwise.
The above two aside, this book should be read by everyone and be required reading for those who discuss sexual assault/harassment.