Intimate Violence against Rural Women: The Current and Future State of Feminist Empirical and Theoretical Contributions

Abstract

Rural crime in general ranks among the least studied social problems in the social sciences; however, a growing body of research shows that rural woman abuse is a major problem. The current state of progressive critical feminist social scientific knowledge enhances an empirical and theoretical understanding of intimate violence against rural women. Revealing the complexities of rural women's experiences and struggles with violent relationships reconstitutes violence against women as a public crisis that requires continued serious attention with regard research, theory, and policy. Three primary objectives of this article are as follows: (i) briefly review recent feminist social scientific literature on research, methodology, and theoretical contributions on violence against women in rural areas, (ii) suggest new directions in researching and theorizing rural women's experiences with intimate violence, and (iii) offer creative practical and policy solutions towards a broad vision of social change.

Adult Pornography and Violence Against Women in the Heartland: Results From a Rural Southeast Ohio Study

“…Though the back-talk interview schedule did not include specific questions about pornography, most of the participants reported experiences with various types of it, mirroring several themes uncovered in the ROSA study. The back-talk approach is a recent development in qualitative social sciences (Hall-Sanchez, 2013). Yet, “back-talk” as a display of resistance or form of opposition in narrative has deep roots in African American history (Collins, 2000).…”

“…Back-talk interviews empower participants, providing opportunities to exercise a greater role in the research processes. Scholars can also responsibly disseminate sensitive issues to potentially diverse and highly politicized audiences, contributing to a more reflexive and socially responsible research culture (Frisina, 2006; Hall-Sanchez, 2013).…”

Rape in the Nordic Countries

“…Rural violence has emerged as an important field of inquiry over the last few decades (for overviews, see Edwards, 2015;Hall-Sanchez, 2016;. This research has shown that physical and sexual violence is just as commonif not more commonin rural areas as it is in urban areas (Edwards, 2015), and that such violence has specific rurality-based characteristics.…”

Disabled in rural Victoria: Exploring the intersection of victimisation, disability and rurality on access to justice

“…Whilst the lives of people with disability residing in rural areas are also subject to perceptions about loneliness and as outcast from the community, such perceptions are not always accurate, however the identities "marked by disability [are nonetheless] complex and multilayered" (Soldatic & Johnson, 2017, p. 245). In researching gendered crimes in rural settings, scholars have highlighted the significance of rurality and place in understanding the prevalence, severity, reporting of family violence, and the justice and service system response to women who experience family violence (George & Harris, 2014;Pruitt, 2008) and intimate partner violence (DeKeseredy, 2019;Hall-Sanchez, 2016;Rennison, DeKeseredy & Dragiewicz, 2013). While the crime perpetrated against Noah was not gendered in nature, it is argued that the dimensions of disability and how his disability was understood and responded to within a rural context had repercussions that affected the outcome of his case.…”