Rescuing women from the brinks of whiteness: Carceral restoration in a human trafficking court.

This article examines the Women's Refuge Court (WRC), a human trafficking intervention court in Roosevelt County, Ohio, focusing on its unique penal reform approach called carceral restoration. Unlike typical gender-responsive justice (GRJ) programs that emphasize personal responsibility and therapeutic interventions but neglect material support, the WRC prioritizes socio-economic recovery through extensive material resources and adulation, largely influenced by evangelical Christian anti-trafficking discourses that frame predominantly white, adult women criminalized for prostitution and drug offenses as innocent "sex trafficking victims." The court’s racial homogeneity and reform strategy are linked to local anxieties over the status decline of impoverished white women in a predominantly white, economically disadvantaged neighborhood, reflecting a "white slavery panic" that masks broader social and racial dynamics. This analysis highlights how the WRC’s approach diverges from standard penal reform by rejecting responsibilization and instead using religiously informed narratives to justify material support as a form of restorative care aimed at preserving racial privilege.