Table Of ContentDomestic Violence in
Diverse Contexts
Overwhelmingly, it is women who are the victims of domestic violence and
this book puts women’s experiences of domestic violence at its centre, whilst
acknowledging their many diverse and complex identities.
Concentrating on the various forms of domestic abuse and its occurrence and
manifestations within different contexts, it argues that gender is centrally implicated
in the unique factors that shape violence across all these areas. Individual chapters
outline the experiences of:
(cid:115)(cid:172) mothers
(cid:115)(cid:172) older women
(cid:115)(cid:172) religious women
(cid:115)(cid:172) refugee women
(cid:115)(cid:172) rural women
(cid:115)(cid:172) Aboriginal women
(cid:115)(cid:172) lesbians
(cid:115)(cid:172) women with intellectual disabilities.
Exploring how domestic violence across varying contexts impacts on different
women’s experiences and understandings of abuse, this innovative work draws on
post-structuralist feminist theory and how these ideas view, and potentially allow,
gendered explanations of domestic violence. Domestic Violence in Diverse Contexts is
suitable for academics and researchers interested in issues around violence and
gender.
Sarah Wendt is Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology, Social Work and
Social Policy, and co-director of the Research Centre for Gender Studies at the
University of South Australia.
Lana Zannettino is Senior Lecturer in Sociology in the School of Nursing and
Midwifery at Flinders University, South Australia.
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Domestic Violence in Diverse
Contexts
A re-examination of gender
Sarah Wendt and Lana Zannettino
Domestic Violence in
Diverse Contexts
A re-examination of gender
Sarah Wendt and Lana Zannettino
First published 2015
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2015 Sarah Wendt and Lana Zannettino
The right of Sarah Wendt and Lana Zannettino to be identified as
author of this work has been asserted by him/her in accordance
with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wendt, Sarah, author.
Domestic violence in diverse contexts : a re-examination of gender /
Sarah Wendt and Lana Zannettino.
p. ; cm. -- (Routledge advances in health and social policy)
Includes bibliographical references.
I. Zannettino, Lana, author. II. Title. III. Series: Routledge
advances in health and social policy.
[DNLM: 1. Domestic Violence. 2. Feminism. 3. Internationality.
4. Women. WA 308]
RC569.5.F3
616.85´822–dc23 2014013054
ISBN: 978-0-415-53010-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-75189-4 (ebk)
Typeset in Baskerville
by HWA Text and Data Management, London
Contents
About the authors vi
Acknowledgements vii
1 Introduction 1
2 Feminist understandings of domestic violence 18
3 Mothers 38
4 Older women 58
5 Religious women 85
6 Refugee women 105
7 Rural women 126
8 Aboriginal women 144
9 Lesbians 164
10 Women with intellectual disabilities 190
11 Conclusion 213
Index 220
About the authors
Sarah Wendt has a background in social work. She is currently a senior lecturer
in the School of Psychology, Social Work and Social Policy, and co-director of the
Research Centre for Gender Studies at the University of South Australia. Sarah
has made significant contributions to the field of domestic violence. She wrote
Domestic Violence in Rural Australia (2009), and has been published in numerous
high-ranking, international academic journals including Health and Social Care in
the Community, International Social Work, Journal of Social Work, British Journal of Social
Work, Journal of Rural Studies, Affilia: Women and Social Work and Australian Social Work.
Her current research projects explore the impact of domestic violence on women’s
citizenship, the role of religion in domestic violence, and service provision for
Aboriginal communities experiencing family violence.
Lana Zannettino has a background in social work. She is currently a senior
lecturer in Sociology in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Flinders
University, South Australia. Lana has made significant contributions to the field
of domestic violence and gender theorising, including being published in several
high-ranking, international academic journals such as Violence Against Women, Gender
and Education, Australian Feminist Studies and Child and Family Social Work. Her current
research projects explore the impact of encampment on domestic violence in
refugee communities, and the sexual health care needs of young refugee women.
She currently serves as one of the Commonwealth’s nominated non-government
representatives on the Implementation Panel for the National Plan to Reduce
Violence Against Women and their Children 2010–2022.
Acknowledgements
The stories described in this book could not have emerged without the participation
of women who gave their time and effort to be interviewed by us about their
experiences of domestic violence. We remember their courage, strength and
willingness. Similarly, we acknowledge human service workers who help and assist
women, men and children experiencing domestic violence and especially those
who gave their time to be interviewed for the purposes of this research.
We thank the University of South Australia and Flinders University for support
and time given to write this book. In particular, we would like to thank Kathryn
Evans, who assisted us during literature searching, Kate Leeson for her editing
services and Katrina Pestka for interviewing women living with intellectual
disabilities. We would like to thank the following colleagues and experts in their
fields who gave their time to read and comment on respective chapters: Professor
Irene Watson, Professor Jude Irwin and Sandra Seymour. We also thank our
colleagues for the many passionate discussions and vibrant conversations about
our shared commitment to researching violence against women and their children
to ultimately make a difference, especially Dr Nicole Moulding, Dr Fiona
Buchanan and Deirdre Tedmanson. Thank you to Professor Suzanne Franzway
for her mentorship and discussions about gender.
Finally, Sarah would like to personally thank her husband Greg and two sons
Curtis and Mitchell for supporting, encouraging and loving her throughout this
writing journey. Lana would like to personally thank her partner Herman and two
daughters Isabella and Melanie for their constant love and support throughout
this endeavour and all others.
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1 Introduction
Introduction
We identified the need for this book from a number of factors we have observed in
well over a decade of research in the area of domestic and family violence. First, we
have been around long enough to have seen the evolution of feminist theory and
knowledge in academia, and its impact on theorising and knowledge development
in the area of domestic violence. In a broad brush stroke, this evolution can be
characterised as a shift from a focus on male structural power or patriarchy as the
aetiology of domestic violence, to a focus on social constructions and identities,
which, if they do not outright reject the existence of patriarchy as a stable reality
or truth, see it as incapable of accommodating those aspects of identity such as
class, race, ethnicity, sexuality and geographical location that disrupt and reshape
the development and meaning of violence and abuse in women’s lives. In the last
few years, however, we have witnessed a critique of this shift in feminist theorising,
which has garnered a renewed interest in patriarchy and gender oppression
in theorising about domestic violence. In this way, there has been a circuitous
nature to the evolution of feminist theorising, not only in domestic violence but
in theorising women’s lives more generally. This circuitous evolution in feminist
theorising has prompted us to re-examine the centrality of gender in domestic
violence, both as a concept and as an element of lived experience.
Second, our empirical research with women has compelled us to recognise the
diversity of women’s lives and the ways that this diversity can variously impact on
women’s experiences of violence and abuse. This recognition made us think again
about the centrality of gender in women’s lives – how significant, for example,
is gender in shaping the lives of refugee women affected by domestic violence,
many of whom have fled persecution and spent years in camps? And, should
we impose gender as a central category of analysis in researching the lives of
these women? The same could be asked of Aboriginal women, mothers, religious
women, women with intellectual disabilities, lesbians, and so on.
This book, therefore, stems from a deep questioning of ourselves as researchers
and as feminist theorists in the field of domestic violence against a backdrop of
evolving and often contested feminist theorising in the academe. What we are
certain of, however, is our commitment to feminism, both as a movement and
