Integrating a victim voice in community policing: A feminist critique

The article addresses the role of victim's voice in community policing of violence against women. Using Israel as a case study, with its minority Arab and majority Jewish communities, we show the paradoxes of adhering to community policing tenets in a highly collectivist community, and when divergence and conflict rather than congruence and consensus characterize the relations between the police, the minority community and its victims. The article juxtaposes and contrasts two databases relevant for understanding the role of victims in community policing in violence against women. Police officers' views about and perceptions of Arab female victims and their community are presented alongside the narratives of Arab female victims about their abuse, and their interaction with and perceptions of the police. The article concludes with discussing the risks and highlighting the advantages of community policing for violence against women victims in terms of victims' safety and empowerment, and the potential of community policing for improving the relation between minority communities and police.