Addressing domestic violence in Canada and the United States: The uneasy co-habitation of women and the state

Abstract

Feminist sociologists and activists have drawn attention to how violence against women is linked to structural and cultural factors that subordinate women, mainly intersecting inequalities and limited rights. Mobilization by the Battered Women’s and Anti-Violence Movements, media attention, legislation, and policy have increased awareness and support to address violence against women. However, activists and researchers have also critiqued the problems with invoking the power of the state. The authors interrogate the role of the state in addressing domestic violence, especially in the context of immigration in the neoliberal era. More specifically, they examine how domestic violence, as legal and policy discourse, has been framed in Canada and the US, and the resulting forms of intervention. Through a critical literature review the authors show how this framing impacts immigrant and racialized women facing domestic violence. The article highlights problems and gaps in the respective discourses, as well as indicates possibilities for change.

At the Interface of National and Transnational: The Development of Finnish Policies against Domestic Violence in Terms of Gender Equality

“…While these measures are necessary and useful, they do not adequately address the gender inequalities involved in DV. The unintended result of the coupling of social policy and DV is that by emphasizing social policy solutions rather than criticizing structural gender inequalities, the feminist content of such policy initiatives has been eroded (see also [48]). While feminist and women-friendly welfare discourses may coexist, their basic premises and policy goals differ from each other, especially when it comes to the issue of societal transformation.…”

A Collectivist Perspective for Addressing Family Violence in Minority Newcomer Communities in North America: Culturally Integrative Family Safety Responses

“…Entry into these programs is by court mandate for perpetrators or self-referral for perpetrators and victim-survivors. When not involved in the criminal justice system, the health-care system is an entry point to professional services for victim-survivors (Abraham & Tastsoglou, 2016;Kirst et al, 2012;Sugg, 2015). Although evidence supports IPV screening in health-care settings, coordination and accessibility of programs, as well as health-care providers' knowledge, is often inadequate to supporting appropriate follow-up referrals (Kirst et al, 2012).…”

Co-option and Organisational Survival: A Case Study of the Risks and Opportunities of State Attachment within the United States Feminist Antiviolence Movement

“…For example, Markowitz and Tice (2002) describe the ways in which professionalisation has created space for marginalised voices representing social justice movements within sites of political power. Abraham and Tastsoglou (2016b) identify education as an opportunity conferred by the state's involvement in antiviolence work, which should focus on deconstructing essentialist understandings of social groups and making visible inequality and discrimination, including the state's role in perpetuating it. While Abraham and Tastsoglou identify opportunities available through the state's participation in antiviolence work, they also argue there is a need for more communitybased efforts grounded in informal social support networks to compliment state investments.…”

“…Her work describes how a grassroots women's centre faced regulatory practices through the use of state funding, but that funding enabled the onboarding of new staff and eventually led to a resurgence of feminist ideology and goals. Reinelt (1995) shows how engagement with the state not only poses risks but opportunities as well, and Abraham and Tastsoglou (2016b) also argue that the state's involvement in addressing domestic violence offers opportunities for justice, though not without pressure from external social movement actors. An example of social movement actors effectively working with government agencies is presented by Arfaoui and Moghadam (2016) who present the case of Tunisian feminist social movement actors able to work with government to increase awareness of violence against women and institutionalise policy changes.…”