Abstract
Suzanne Franzway and colleagues detail a comprehensive research study on the lasting impact of intimate partner violence (IPV) in their book, The Sexual Politics of Gendered Violence and Women’s Citizenship. Using theoretical foundations established by feminist scholars Kate Millet and Martha Nussbaum, the authors open their book by framing IPV and violence against women in general as a result of sexual politics that ultimately reduce women’s citizenship. The authors cite Millet’s work when they define sexual politics as the relationship between the sexes that is focused on power. Nussbaum’s work on the 10 capabilities for citizenship provides the framework that the authors used to select their variables of interest. The aim of the book presented by the authors it to “reveal the breadth and interconnected nature of the impact of IPV on women’s citizenship as part of challenging the willful ignorance about violence and its relationship to gender inequality” (p. 34). What unfolds in the rest of the book is a comprehensive picture of the impact that experiencing IPV has on survivors’ citizenship.
The results of Franzway and colleague’s study reveal the pervasive and interconnected effects of IPV. The authors describe the mixed-methods design they employed in order to gather prevalence data and intricate details about the participants’ individual experiences of IPV. The authors use Nussbaum’s framework to focus their study on the key variables of housing, employment, mental health, and social participation. In outlining the results, readers will clearly see that IPV impacts all aspects of a survivor’s life. The authors used participants’ quotations to present a clear picture of disruptions in housing and employment that the participants endured. The authors also illuminate the survivors’ journeys to gain support for their mental health, which was often met with ignorance about the impact of IPV. Finally, the authors present their findings on the impacts on survivors’ social participation, which has not been evaluated in IPV research before this study. The participants detail how IPV led survivors to fear relationships, friendships, and social spaces. The authors interpret these results through the lens of coercive control, which, they say, is a great assault on women’s citizenship. Abusive partners use coercive control to limit their agency through threats of violence. It is clear from personal stories recounted in the results that IPV has dramatic consequences that “cast a long shadow” (p. 176) over the lives of survivors.
Franzway and colleagues’ book is a thorough picture of how IPV disrupts a survivor’s citizenship in areas of housing, employment, mental health, and social participation. The book is well organized with participants’ quotations and quantitative data providing support for the authors’ conclusion. The authors intricately weave into their text varying feminist theories to provide frameworks through which the results can be interpreted. They conclude each chapter with discussions on how gender inequality is at the root of violence against women. The authors conclude that, unless policy makers are willing to confront gendered disparities, violence against women will continue.
While the book has many strengths, one weakness is its authors’ lack of presentation of the limitations of the research study on which it is based. A significant conclusion of the book is that the participants’ lives where not regained in entirety once the survivors had experienced IPV. However, because this study was designed to allow survivors to reflect on their lives once they had exited their abusive relationship, it is possible for their recollections to be colored by their experiences of violence. Nonetheless, despite this limitation, potential readers should view this book as an example of outstanding feminist scholarship.
The book concludes by presenting global feminist movements addressing IPV. While the perception may be that advocates have not moved the needle in terms of reducing violence against women, this book reveals that feminists have had an impact on policy and support for survivors, and it gives advocates and researchers like me hope that, through perseverance, we all can make a difference in reducing violence against women and alleviating traumatic effects that IPV often inflicts.
