Reforming Mediation: The Hidden Inequities Shaped by Race, Gender, and Power

Authors

• Victoria Seever

Abstract

Courts and policymakers often promote family dispute resolution as a faster, less adversarial alternative to traditional litigation. Yet for many women of color, the mediation table often replicates the same racial and gender power imbalances that the legal system claims to mitigate. Family Dispute Resolution (“FDR”) often fails women of color by reinforcing racialized and gendered power imbalances. Alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”), especially mediation, presents both an opportunity and a risk in divorce, custody, and intimate partner violence (“IPV”) cases. IPV cases become especially difficult with the various laws in different states that govern how mediation should be used and whether it is compulsory. Further, mediation is impacted by racial and gender bias and shape these outcomes by influencing how mediators evaluate cases and interact with the parties. While mediation is often promoted as efficient and less adversarial, systemic bias and power imbalances—which are often exacerbated for women of color—make these processes prone to inequity without structural reform.

Recommended Citation

Victoria Seever, Reforming Mediation: The Hidden Inequities Shaped by Race, Gender, and Power, 2026 J. Disp. Resol. ()
Available at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/jdr/vol2026/iss2/17