NCJ Number
200757
Journal
Violence Against Women Volume: 9 Issue: 7 Dated: July 2003 Pages: 784-806
Date Published
July 2003
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This article explores battered women’s perspectives and suggestions concerning how to advance social change to promote and assist battered women’s emancipation from violence.
Abstract
Feminist research and theory postulates that those who experience violence in the home are in the best position to offer suggestions about how to best help women escape from the violence and thrive within society. However, feminist scholars also contend that battered women are rarely consulted about their opinions and suggestions; in fact, these scholars assert that the dominant culture actually blames battered women for the violence perpetrated against them. In this study, the authors interviewed 41 women who were staying in a shelter for battered women in order to gain their insights about their situations and how social and governmental programs could be changed to better assist them. The authors were also interested in learning whether battered women’s perspectives about their situations reflected the individualized or the structural discourses that have emerged concerning domestic violence and its causes. Results of narrative analysis revealed that these women had a range of perspectives regarding domestic violence and victimization and also had different solutions that centered on survival and issues of equality. The authors assert that including the voices of battered women in policymaking and program creation is the most effective way of combating the dominant ideology regarding domestic violence and the notion of appropriate victimization. Furthermore, centering program creation on the experiences of battered women will help give victims of domestic violence viable choices in their quest to leave the violent home and succeed in society. References