Women who use violence in relationships

1. Women who use violence in relationships Chris Newman Respect Practice Development Day Feb 2018 Chris@fsa.me.uk

2. The gender controversy in DV research and practice Some researchers argue that the view that gender is the primary driver for domestic abuse is ideologically based rather than empirically supported. They cite research reviews which offer limited support for the relationship between patriarchal values and domestic violence or for patriarchy being the most significant risk factor for domestic violence perpetration See for instance the work of Nicola Graham Kevan, John Hamel, Donald Dutton.

3. The gender controversy in DV research and practice (much of the following is based on a review paper by Calvin Bell, 2013) Archer (2006) concluded that women’s violence in relationships was highly correlated with the degree of sexual equality in each country. As measures of equality and participation increased, there was less female victimisation and more male victimisation.

4. On the other hand….. feminist commentators argue that when the following are taken into account: variation in motives, size and strength differences, gender roles and the division of labour, social and financial power differentials, time lost from work, the capacity of one partner to elicit fear in the other, the co-occurrence of other forms of aggression (eg, sexual abuse and financial control), coercive control, prolonged beatings, the use of medical and mental health services, the severity of physical and psychological injury inflicted, separation and post-separation violence, stalking, repeat victimisation, uxoricide, and familicide…. …. it is women who are overwhelmingly most victimised, and if gender symmetry exists at all, it is only in the narrowest sense.

5. “Hit them early and hit them hard”* In countries where patriarchal family arrangements are explicitly condoned and normalised in political and religious institutions, it seems clear that men’s expectations of authority and control are the primary drivers for violence to women and girls For instance surveys in the Middle East and North Africa indicate that the majority of men expect to control their wives’ personal freedoms, from what they wear and where they go to when the couple has sex (and many women also assent to such views). (e.gAbadeer, 2015 ; El Feki, Heilman and Barker 2017). (Quote from man about what he was told by his peers about how to treat his new wife)

6. Ellen Pence “the violence used by the oppressors and the oppressed is not the same in motive, effect, outcome, and consequences even if much of it might look similar on the surface. Hence, it is important to disentangle battered women’s use of forcefrom all other types of violence and classify it properly. Battering is about the sustained use of coercion, intimidation, and violence by the dominant that pushes the victim into fear of disintegration of her physical and sexual self. Battering is an attempt to break down the personhood of an individual and make the individual become who the oppressor wants her to be. Battering is about one person establishing power and control over another. In contrast, resistive violence is the reaction of the oppressed against her subjugator. The two are different in nature, content, and purpose”.

7. And/but… over 200 epidemiological surveys and large-scale studies by well-respected researchers from the fields of sociology, criminology, forensic, clinical and family psychology, psychiatry, social work, family therapy, public health and medicine have provided compelling evidence that in the general population of westernised countries at least, adult and teenage women enact and initiate partner-directed violence and abuse at rates that are equivalent to, or even higher than, men’s (review by Bell, 2013).

8. The polarisation between the ‘gender-deniers’ and the ‘power, control and patriarchy’ narrative of the feminist movement has led to vitriolic exchanges between the two camps (and an anti-feminist backlash). Have researchers and activists of both stripes been studying different populations? RECONCILING THE DIFFERENCES: CAN BOTH SIDES BE RIGHT?

9. RECONCILING THE DIFFERENCES: CAN BOTH SIDES BE RIGHT?

10. RECONCILING THE DIFFERENCES: CAN BOTH SIDES BE RIGHT?

11. Typologies of DV Kelly and Johnson (2008), for example, recognise five types of domestic violence based on the motivation of the perpetrator, the pattern of violence, and the power dynamic within the relationship: ‘Coercive-controlling violence’: or ‘intimate terrorism’;it involves the use (in heterosexual relationships, usually by men) of multiple tactics of coercion and (usually, but not always) physical violence, in an attempt to achieve and maintain general control over a partner and access to domestic, emotional and sexual services. ‘Violent resistance’ involves a woman employing self-defensive, retaliatory or pre-emptive violence in response to ‘battery’ by her partner.

12. ‘Situational Couple Violence’ shows huge variability; it occurs in the context of isolated power struggles, jealousy or other incidents of conflict; it involves one or both parties using verbal aggression and/or violence, usually (but by no means always) of a minor nature. Women initiate violence and are the sole or primary perpetrator as often as men. ‘Separation-instigated violence’ occurs for the first time in the context of relationship breakdown and separation; the violence is usually, but by no means always, of a minor nature, and is perpetrated by men and women. ‘Mutual violent control’ occurs when both partners employ coercive controlling violence (only found in a small minority of couples).

16. KEY POINTS There is more than one type of domestic violence Women are violent in most relationships that feature violence (although they are more likely than men to be injured) The most prevalent form of domestic violence among heterosexual couples shows few gender differences, and is usually minor in nature (although it can escalate into lethal conflict) The least common, but most severe, form of domestic violence is committed predominantly by men However this form of violence is much more common in referrals to statutory agencies and emergency services Many couples affected by domestic violence do not fit the binary perpetrator/victim construction adopted by most practitioners

17. How to respond to this? On a case by case basis, look at the history of violence across the relationship, and also the detail of some specific incidents. Consider: frequency severity Impact how injuries were sustained the pattern of other controlling behaviours in the relationship, the level of ‘coercive control’ - the extent to which one partner lives in fear of the other.

18. How to respond to this? “It’s just situational couple violence” SITUATIONAL COUPLE VIOLENCE ≠ LOW RISK. Frequency, severity, impact on adults and children and context still need to be checked in detail. This may be anywhere along a continuum of severity from high conflict arguments involving minor acts of violence by each partner, up to severe violence by either partner. And we need to consider the risk to children of living with chronic, “lower level” conflict.

19. Abadeer, ASZ (2015) Norms and Gender Discrimination in the Arab World. Palgrave Macmillan, New York Bell (2013) What are the gender differences, if any, in domestic violence? Unpublished manuscript, Ahimsa (Safer Families) Ltd El Feki, S Heilman, B and Barker, G Eds (2017) Understanding masculinities, Results from international men and gender equalities Survey (IMAGES) Middle East and North Africa Graham-Kevan, Nicola, (2017) Gifted women, fragile men Monograph: School of Psychology, University of Central Lancashire. Johnson, M.P. (2008) A Typology of Domestic Violence. London: North Eastern University Press. Pence E (2012) Foreword to special issue Violence Against Women 18(9) 1000–1003 Chris Newman - Chris@fsa.me.uk