Vulnerability after Wounding: Feminism, Rape Law, and the Differend

Stringer, Rebecca

doi:10.1353/sub.2013.0031

Cited by 20 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…We ask in what way the act of rape is linked to place. In line with recent research, we consider it fruitful to pay attention to the ambivalence of place (Moran & Skeggs, 2004;Stringer, 2014;Tyner, 2012) in relation to how vulnerability and agency are expressed in court narratives.…”

Section: Place Vulnerability and Agencysupporting

confidence: 53%

“…The Stureplan case demonstrates a problematic opposition between vulnerability and agency. Invoking mental vulnerability produces a weak female position since it suggests that the problem lies within the individual and ignores patriarchal structures (see Edgren, 2016;Mardorossian, 2014;Plummer, 1995;Stringer, 2014).…”

Section: 1)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our aim is to discuss how the meaning of place in the court narratives affects who is rendered vulnerable and who is attributed agency. As pointed out by several scholars, vulnerability and agency are often perceived as diametric opposites in law, which means, for example, that a woman who is recognized as having sexual agency is not seen as vulnerable (Andersson, 2016;Fineman, 2008;Lacey, 1997;Mardorossian, 2002Mardorossian, , 2014Stringer, 2014). We explore whether and how the courts bring these concepts into opposition and how they relate to the meaning of place.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Vulnerability, Agency and the Ambivalence of Place in Narratives of Rape in Three High-Profile Swedish Cases

Andersson

Edgren

2018

NORA - Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research

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a faculty of law, lund university, lund, sweden; b faculty of culture and society, malmö university, malmö, sweden ABSTRACT For decades, the media have frequently been instrumental in framing rape cases by linking the deed with the place. This study demonstrates that law courts are not innocent of such social framing; on the contrary, they are significant agents. We argue that courts, by shaping the plot in rape cases, participate in an ongoing cultural production of meaning, although in a more subtle and ambivalent way than the media. In a narrative analysis of three contemporary rape cases in Sweden, we bring together feminist research on place with the concepts of vulnerability and agency. We argue that place is framed as ambivalent in relation to vulnerability and agency, and dependent on the positioning of plaintiff and defendant. In court narratives, geographical places are made relevant, including the locations where the alleged rapes took place. Court narratives of rape include highly ambivalent connotations with place in relation to vulnerability and agency, distinguished by different narratives and outcomes in the various instances. The legal and social implications of our work should include an awareness of the relevance of place in relation to rape.

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Section: Place Vulnerability and Agencysupporting

confidence: 53%

Section: 1)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Vulnerability, Agency and the Ambivalence of Place in Narratives of Rape in Three High-Profile Swedish Cases

Andersson

Edgren

2018

NORA - Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research

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“…Med bell hooks måste denna gestaltning som bidrog till en fällande dom emellertid också förstås som ett tal som snärjer, eftersom den konstruerar våldtäkt som ett individuellt problem, som i enlighet med en neoliberal ideologi ska lösas individuellt. Den skapar en offerposition och en svag femininitet som förstärker heterosexuella förståelser av kön och sexualitet och döljer patriarkala strukturer (se Mardorossian 2002Mardorossian , 2014Stringer 2016;Gilson 2016). Att frivilligt ge sig in i sexuella handlingar av en typ där även "hårdare sex", som käranden själv uttryckte det, förekommer, ställer käranden inför särskilt svåra hinder när det gäller att värja sig mot misstankar om frivillighet och för möjlighet att tala mot i bell hooks mening.…”

Section: "Fram Till Dess Var Samlaget Frivilligt Från Hennes Sida"unclassified

Tala tillbaka, tala som ”other” i domstolsnarrativ om våldtäkt

Edgren¹

2018

TGV

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Like a prostitute, a married woman who charges her husband with rape has a special position in defending herself against doubts about coercion and at the same time vindicating her agency. This also applies to the woman who initially agrees with an unknown man to a sexual act which turns into a rape. This article investigates how women in such positions figure in historical and legal contexts, and how they have voiced/expressed themselves in courts in relation to dominant narratives about rape. Out of a larger sample of twentythree rape cases in Swedish courts, all attracting extensive media coverage, I have selected three cases for a detailed study. The examples are not representative, but they allow for in-depth discussions. The selected cases relate to the legislation that applied just before the 1998 Crime Committee and until the 2005 Act. The cases are from the late 1990s until 2007, a period of major societal changes that also affect perceptions of gender and violence. The study examines the presence in Swedish courts of two master narratives about sexual violence that, according to feminist research, dominate in the Western world, and how female plaintiffs respond to these verbally, by silence, and by bodily expression. The first, dominant since the 1980s, is “negate or blame”, that is, rape is understood to be either “just sex”, or the woman carries the blame. The second is “rape trauma”. The analysis relates to bell hook’s book Talking back. The perspective is widened with reference to Michael Bamberg, who argues that even though one always talks within dominant narratives, elements from these are picked up and an alternative speech is improvised. In different ways, women try to navigate against the dominant narratives of negate or blame and of trauma. They may not in full meet the criteria for talking back, but they are in different ways aware that their talk and performances are restrained, which is also a kind of resistance.

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“…… rather than seeking a more comprehensive understanding of this phenomena or counteracting other forms of domination in women's private and public lives… it is critical to "protect" women by removing the economic and social obstacles they regularly encounter rather than by expanding the capacity of the state to reproduce violence. (Bumiller 2008, p. xiv-v) Both Stringer (2013Stringer ( , 2014 and Bumiller (2008) draw attention to the importance of discursive analysis in addressing violence against women.…”

Section: Bridging Feminism and Postmodernismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resistance and Reconstruction: Older Women Talk about Childhood Sexual Abuse

Kostecki¹

2012

The International Journal of Aging and Society

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Research which explores the experiences of women who have experienced childhood sexual abuse is, in the main, focused on young and middle-aged women. Recognition of their perspectives is limited in academic literature.Ostensibly, this reflects broader social issues of ageism. This study uses a feminist research approach to explore the personal stories of 16 Australian women aged 57 years and older who have experienced childhood sexual abuse. It aims to feature their views and social contexts in light of how they managed the impact of childhood sexual abuse during their lives.The concepts of resistance and reconstruction have been developed as a basis for a thematic analysis of how the women have made sense of their experiences. Often, normative discourse regarding older women is negative or the nature of their lives marginalised, and this research aims to demonstrate the complexity and diversity of their perspectives, and to also provide a space for their insights to be recognised. In sharing their stories, the women contribute to knowledge regarding the patterns of gender and age-based inequality and how they enact agency in constructing subjectivities in difficult life circumstances. Furthermore, this project attempts to contribute to professional knowledge by developing anti-ageist practices for social work and human service workers. managing childhood sexual abuse. It is recognition that their stories are important:… because, so often in our history, events, however major their ramifications, occur at the level of the molecular, the minor, the little and the mundane. (Rose 1999, p. 11).In speaking about themselves and the issue of childhood sexual abuse, the women demonstrate how, at the level of the everyday, powerful and nuanced resistances and reconstructions work to challenge normalising discourse regarding gender, age and recovery. Fundamentally, I hoped to represent the narratives of the women in a way which did justice to their efforts to participate in the research and, most importantly, to their bold, undaunted and daring approaches which were sometimes humorous and optimistic, but oftentimes painful and confronting.

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Vulnerability after Wounding: Feminism, Rape Law, and the Differend

Cited by 20 publications

References 23 publications

Vulnerability, Agency and the Ambivalence of Place in Narratives of Rape in Three High-Profile Swedish Cases

Vulnerability, Agency and the Ambivalence of Place in Narratives of Rape in Three High-Profile Swedish Cases

Tala tillbaka, tala som ”other” i domstolsnarrativ om våldtäkt

Resistance and Reconstruction: Older Women Talk about Childhood Sexual Abuse

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