Violence against prostitute women is both prevalent and hidden. It may take the form of assault by a client or stranger, or psychological coercion to provide sex on the part of law enforcement personnel. The social organisation of prostitution into dominant modes such as streetwalking, brothel or massage parlour prostitution increases the likelihood that female prostitutes will be physically and sexually abused. Further, current police practices in regulating prostitution within some Australian states create optimum conditions for the abuse of prostitutes. However, this victimisation should be interpreted within the context of social structural factors. For example, the legal response to prostitution favoured within each state is important. This paper examines the various legal approaches to prostitution and assesses the impact of these approaches upon prostitutes' lives. It is argued that the law plays a critical role in determining the physical vulnerability of prostitute women. Within Victoria, for example, the politicisation of prostitution and the resulting legislative reform have effectively reduced the visibility of prostitution and altered the social control of the industry. Women working outside the new legal structures are particularly at risk of abuse and are accorded harsher penalties under the law.

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Woman battering is conceptualised in various ways within the academic literature. Such theoretical accounts, often axiomatic rather than explicitly argued, have emerged co-extensively with the designation of woman battering as a contemporary social problem. There is, nevertheless, an ideological consistency between these theoretical accounts and the social responses to the 'problem'. This situation implies specific consequences for policy development and service delivery in the area of woman battering: the physical injury incurred by women within abusive relationships is often denied. Instead, the experience is often construed in terms of individual social welfare.

Theoretical and methodological paradigms used by researchers and applied workers to conceptualise domestic violence are examined, with particular emphasis on the implications for social action. It is argued that the gender assumptions underlying the theoretical framework adopted are often implicit, unacknowledged, and that when they assume equal power between men and women may do a disservice to female victims. We maintain that the consequence of discrepant approaches of professionals encountering domestic violence is insufficient dialogue between researchers and applied workers, reducing the potential for effective social remedy. Some resolutions of this dilemma are proposed; specifically, these concern the adoption of feminist paradigms, the importance of making victims more visible, and empowering women to overcome violent oppression.

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