scholarly journals “What about men?”: Ideological dilemmas in online discussions about intimate partner violence committed by women

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 469-488
Author(s):  
Satu Venäläinen

Whether intimate partner violence (IPV) is a gendered phenomenon or not is a question that continuously arouses debate both among scholars and the general public. This article analyses meaning-making around IPV and gender in online discussions that focus on IPV committed by women. The analysis draws upon critical discursive psychology, and identifies ideological dilemmas, interpretative repertoires and subject positions related in the discussions to the relevance of gender, on the one hand, and gender equality, on the other. The ideological dilemmas focused on the relevance of gender revolve around a gender-neutral repertoire and a gendered difference repertoire, while those focused on gender equality centre on the opposing repertoires of gender equality as a commonplace value and gender equality gone wrong. A more detailed examination of how these repertoires are constructed, negotiated, and used in the discussions reveals a pattern where discursive devices such as factualisation techniques are employed in combination with an affectively emphatic style of expression in ways that, for the most part, work to discredit the value of feminist understandings of links between IPV, gender, and power, while, instead, valorising seeming gender neutrality.

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 772-787 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satu Venäläinen

Discussions about men’s victimization by their female intimate partners have gained increased visibility in the last two decades. These discussions put victim positions on offer for men that stand in stark contrast to more widespread associations between masculinity and perpetration of violence. This article examines how these contradictory positionings play out and are discursively negotiated in Finnish online discussions of female-inflicted intimate partner violence (IPV). Two recurring types of positioning of men were identified in the analysis: neglected victims and naturally superior perpetrators. The analysis illustrates how gendered differences between men and women in relation to violence are both reiterated and denied in the processes of enacting, balancing, and rhetorically employing these positionings. Thereby, light is shed on the multiplicity of complex and fluid ways in which masculinities are constructed and customized in the context of meaning-making surrounding the issue of IPV.


2021 ◽  
pp. sextrans-2020-054896
Author(s):  
Navin Kumar ◽  
Kamila Janmohamed ◽  
Kate Nyhan ◽  
Laura Forastiere ◽  
Wei-Hong Zhang ◽  
...  

ObjectivesThe COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated existing socioeconomic and health disparities, including disparities in sexual health and well-being. While there have been several reviews published on COVID-19 and population health disparities generally—including some with attention to HIV—none has focused on sexual health (ie, STI care, female sexual health, sexual behaviour). We have conducted a scoping review focused on sexual health (excluding reproductive health (RH), intimate partner violence (IPV) and gender-based violence (GBV)) in the COVID-19 era, examining sexual behaviours and sexual health outcomes.MethodsA scoping review, compiling both peer-reviewed and grey literature, focused on sexual health (excluding RH, IPV and GBV) and COVID-19 was conducted on 15 September 2020. Multiple bibliographical databases were searched. Study selection conformed to Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Reviewers’ Manual 2015 Methodology for JBI Scoping Reviews. We only included English-language original studies.ResultsWe found that men who have sex with men may be moving back toward pre-pandemic levels of sexual activity, and that STI and HIV testing rates seem to have decreased. There was minimal focus on outcomes such as the economic impact on sexual health (excluding RH, IPV and GBV) and STI care, especially STI care of marginalised populations. In terms of population groups, there was limited focus on sex workers or on women, especially women’s sexual behaviour and mental health. We noticed limited use of qualitative techniques. Very few studies were in low/middle-income countries (LMICs).ConclusionsSexual health research is critical during a global infectious disease pandemic and our review of studies suggested notable research gaps. Researchers can focus efforts on LMICs and under-researched topics within sexual health and explore the use of qualitative techniques and interventions where appropriate.


2021 ◽  
pp. 155708512098763
Author(s):  
Emily M. Wright ◽  
Gillian M. Pinchevsky ◽  
Min Xie

We consider the broad developments that have occurred over the past decade regarding our knowledge of how neighborhood context impacts intimate partner violence (IPV). Research has broadened the concept of “context” beyond structural features such as economic disadvantage, and extended into relationships among residents, collective “action” behaviors among residents, cultural and gender norms. Additionally, scholars have considered how the built environment might foster (or regulate) IPV. We now know more about the direct, indirect, and moderating ways that communities impact IPV. We encourage additional focus on the policy implications of the research findings.


Author(s):  
Johanna Hietamäki ◽  
Marjukka Huttunen ◽  
Marita Husso

Background—Intimate partner violence (IPV) has both direct and longer-term effects on children’s well-being. Much of the research thus far has relied on caregiver reports of IPV and clinical samples of children. By contrast, minimal research has examined violence between parents from the perspective of children using nationwide samples. Objective—This study explored the frequency of IPV witnessed by children and gender variations regarding the victims, perpetrators, and witnesses. Methods—The data were derived from a sample of 11,364 children from the Finnish Child Victim Survey 2013. The children were between 11 and 17 years old and were enrolled in the Finnish school system. The main methods of analysis included crosstabulation and the chi-square test. Results—The results indicate that children witnessed more IPV against their mother (4.9%) than their father (3.5%). Girls reported having witnessed more violence against both their mother (7.0%) and father (5.1%) than boys did (mothers 2.7%, fathers 1.8%). Girls’ reports of IPV against both parents were twice or more than twice as common as boys’ reports. Conclusions—The above differences might result from gendered expectations and boys’ and girls’ different relationships to violence, as well as differences in the recognition and interpretation of violent incidents. Therefore, practitioners should adopt a gender-sensitive approach as a precondition and practice for working with children in social and health care.


2021 ◽  
pp. 147332502110028
Author(s):  
Emmy Högström Tagesson ◽  
Carina Gallo

This article examines how seven social workers within the Swedish social services describe intimate partner violence between teenagers (IPV-BT). The article adds to the literature by examining IPV-BT outside a U.S. context, where most studies have been conducted. Based on semistructured qualitative interviews, the authors analyze descriptions of IPV-BT in relation to Charles Tilly’s notion of category making through transfer, encounter, negotiation, and imposition. They also analyze how the social workers’ descriptions of IPV-BT relate to the intersection between age and gender. The results show that the social workers mostly described IPV-BT by referring to encounters with teenagers and by transferring knowledge and theoretical definitions from their specialized working areas, primarily intimate partner violence between adults (IPV-BA) and troubled youth. More rarely, the social workers based their definitions of IPV-BT upon negotiating dialogues with teenagers. Also, those who worked in teams specialized on IPV had the mandate to impose their definitions of IPV-BT to other professionals and teenagers. When taking age and gender hierarchies in consideration, the results show IPV-BT risks being subordinate IPV-BA on a theoretical level, a practical level and in terms of treatment quality. The study suggests that social work with IPV-BT needs to be sensitive to the double subordinations of the teenage girl and of the teenagers who do not follow gender expectations.


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