Vol. 32, No. 2 (Fall 2008)
Special Issue on Responding to Violence Against Women Across the Globe
Special Edition Editors:
Amanda Robinson & Christopher Maxwell
CONTENTS, Fall 2008
Introduction
1. The Challenge of Responding Effectively to Violence Against Women in a Global ContextAuthors: Amanda Robinson, Christopher Maxwell. IJCACJ, 2008: Vol. 32, Iss. 2; pp. 133 - 147.
Abstract | Full Text | Full Text - PDF
Articles
2. Measuring Progress in Addressing Violence Against Women Across EuropeAuthors: Carol Hagemann-White. IJCACJ, 2008: Vol. 32, Iss. 2; pp. 149 - 172.
Abstract | Full Text | Full Text - PDF
3. Getting Behind Closed Doors: New Developments in Legislation to Prevent Domestic Violence
Authors: Renée Römkens and Katinka Lünnemann. IJCACJ, 2008: Vol. 32, Iss. 2; pp. 173 - 194.
Abstract | Full Text | Full Text - PDF
4. Local Justice and Victim Support for Battered Women in Tajikistan
Authors: Robin Haarr. IJCACJ, 2008: Vol. 32, Iss. 2; pp. 195 - 220.
Abstract | Full Text | Full Text - PDF
5. The Connection of U.S. Best Practices to Outcomes for Abused Vietnamese-American Women
Authors: Merry Morash and Hoan Bui. IJCACJ, 2008: Vol. 32, Iss. 2; pp. 221 - 241.
Abstract | Full Text | Full Text - PDF
6. ‘Crimes of Honour’ and Violence Against Women in the UK
Authors: Aisha Gill. IJCACJ, 2008: Vol. 32, Iss. 2; pp. 243 - 264.
Abstract | Full Text | Full Text - PDF
7. Catch 22- Exploring Victim Interests in a Specialist Family Violence Jurisdiction
Authors: Robyn Holder. IJCACJ, 2008: Vol. 32, Iss. 2; pp. 265 - 290.
Abstract | Full Text | Full Text - PDF
8. Evaluating the Effectiveness of Women’s Refuges: A Multi-Country Approach to Model Development
Authors: Cris M. Sullivan, Isabel Baptista, Sharon O’Halloran, Lydia Okroj, Sarah Morton, And Cheryl Sutherland Stewart . IJCACJ, 2008: Vol. 32, Iss. 2; pp. 291 - 308.
Abstract | Full Text | Full Text - PDF
Essay
1. The Future of Interventions to Reduce Intimate Partner Violence: Moving Forward While Learning from Past ExperiencesAuthors: Angela M. Moore and Jaclyn Smith. IJCACJ, 2008: Vol. 32, Iss. 2; pp. 309 - 320.
Abstract | Full Text | Full Text - PDF
Abstracts
Robinson, A and Maxwell, C. (2008). The Challenge of Responding Effectively to Violence Against Women in a Global Context. Intl. Journal of Comp & Appl. Crim. Justice. Vol. 32, Issue 2, pp. 133 - 147.
This special issue sought to identify and report empirical evidence gathered from countries around the world that demonstrates what effective steps we could take when responding to violence against women (VAW). More specifically, the aims of this special issue were twofold: (1) to showcase criminal justice responses that might significantly decrease rates of VAW, and (2) to expand the intellectual discussion beyond the criminal justice system towards other responses that might also effectively address VAW. The motivation for this focus was our recognition that there has been relatively little systematic attention paid to understanding the benefits and limits of criminalization and criminal justice responses to VAW outside of North America, the UK, and Australia. For example, the United Nations released a report in 2005 that described the extent of VAW, but it was not able to recommend specific policies and practices because of the difficulty of identifying best practices that have been shown to be effective across different national contexts (United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, 2005). We therefore wanted to solicit and publish papers that could address this gap. Unfortunately, after nearly two years of working on this special issue, it is apparent that our aims might have been somewhat idealistic. While the contributions to this special issue help us to understand the approaches that can make a difference to women experiencing intimate partner violence, most of the evidence presented is about ‘‘why it is difficult to find anything that works!’’ As a collection, the papers demonstrate the many challenges facing those working to improve the response to VAW and the services and support provided to victims: at the individual level (e.g., minority ethnic women requiring support in host countries unfamiliar with their unique geo-historical experiences); the agency level (e.g., police officers reluctant to use the new barring orders in the Netherlands); and, the national level (e.g., governments unwilling or unable to fully implement international agreements on women’s rights).
Hagemann-White, C (2008). Measuring Progress in Addressing Violence against Women across Europe. Intl. Journal of Comp & Appl. Crim. Justice. Vol. 32, Issue 2, pp. 149 - 172.
European policy approaches to feminist issues in general, and to violence against women in particular, are diverse, based on differing socio-cultural and political traditions, but they also are oriented increasingly to international agreements. Based on data derived from monitoring the implementation of a comprehensive Recommendation adopted in 2002 by the Council of Europe, the author describes a process of convergence in policy, while a variety of legal frameworks and institutional cultures continue to shape the actual measures of implementation differently. Even within the differences, however, larger patterns can be discerned. The paper uses the concept of Europe-as-project and frames the research as a process of formative evaluation with a multi-method approach. Data collection is continuing and the results are preliminary.
Römkens, R. and Lünnemann, K. (2008). The Challenge of Responding Effectively to Violence Against Women in a Global Context. Intl. Journal of Comp & Appl. Crim. Justice. Vol. 32, Issue 2, pp. 173 - 194.
The call for preventive interventions to curb domestic violence is becoming stronger. The barring order has been launched as an innovative approach to preventing domestic violence. It allows the police to temporarily bar the perpetrator of domestic violence from entering his or her home, as a way to create safety for the victim and children and to start support programmes for victim and perpetrator. This article provides a brief review of experiences with the barring order in Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands. The results of the evaluation of the recently proposed Dutch barring order will be discussed, as well as their theoretical implications. The results indicate that the implementation of the new measure is facing reluctance among the police. It is argued that this points to more than empirical start-up problems, but reflects the dominant impact of law. Because the implementation of the barring order is in the hands of the police, a dynamic is created that is often at odds with the preventive nature of the measure, which requires taking a less legalistic and more process-oriented approach to domestic violence. It begs the fundamental question of whether and how prevention of domestic violence can be realized when assigning the gate-keeping task to the police. Related to this is a broader question: how can perpetrators’ and victims’ interests, and victims’ agency, be safeguarded when the state takes control?
Haarr, R.N. (2008). Local Justice and Victim Support for Battered Women in Tajikistan. Intl. Journal of Comp & Appl. Crim. Justice. Vol. 32, Issue 2, pp. 195 - 220.
Based upon four years of action-oriented ethnographic field research on wife abuse in Tajikistan, this article reveals the barriers that battered women face in accessing justice and victim support services in a developing, post-socialist, sovereign Central Asian state. In doing so, this article considers the cultural context in which wife abuse occurs, the local political context in which wife abuse emerged as a social problem worthy of discourse, and efforts underway locally to conceptualize wife abuse as issues of violence against women and human rights. This article makes a significant contribution to the limited body of research and literature on wife abuse in Tajikistan and Central Asia.
Morash, M and Bui, H. (2008). The Connection of U.S. Best Practices to Outcomes for Vietnamese American
Women Abused by Intimate Partners. Intl. Journal of Comp & Appl. Crim. Justice. Vol. 32, Issue 2, pp. 221 - 241.
A grounded theory approach and sensitizing concepts were used to study U.S. best practices for addressing intimate partner violence against 55 Vietnamese American women interviewed at the beginning and end of a twelve-month period. Advocacy agency, police, and court contact were associated with women’s decisions to leave abusive relationships. Also associated were Vietnamese-speaking professionals and referrals between helping sources. Women’s observation of the deterrent effect of the law and of justice-system involvement explained the stopping of abuse in several but not all cases. Women who stayed in abusive situations received social work help from Vietnamese-speaking staff who understood their cultures, and those with emotional abuse tended to receive no assistance. All women initially had high levels of feeling controlled, frightened, and depressed. The greatest improvements were for women whose abuse stopped or who left. Best practices (coordinated community responses, culturally competent services) appeared to be effective, but nationally they are not uniformly available to many cultural and linguistic groups.
Gill, A. (2008). ‘Crimes of Honour’ and Violence against Women in the UK. Intl. Journal of Comp & Appl. Crim. Justice. Vol. 32, Issue 2, pp. 243 - 263.
Crimes of ‘‘honour-based’’ violence are characterised by violence against women and, as such, are not gender-neutral. The relationship between gender and violence, in communities where honour crimes are committed, is examined by exploring the status of women in South Asian communities, though the paper also considers a range of other contexts in which honour-based crimes are practiced. Participatory observation and analysis of a unique roundtable discussion, held in 2007, provides material for a discussion of criminal justice responses to this issue over the last ten years, following the murder of a young Iranian Kurdish woman (Banaz Mahmod). Case descriptions are employed to illuminate how the concept of honour is used to mediate femicidal violence, demonstrating the ways in which the official UK criminal justice response is often at odds with the day-to-day reality of honour-based violence that women encounter. A number of strategies for reducing this type of violence are suggested in conclusion.
Holder, R. (2008). Catch-22: Exploring Victim Interests in a Specialist Family Violence Jurisdiction. Intl. Journal of Comp & Appl. Crim. Justice. Vol. 32, Issue 2, pp. 265 - 290.
Research and advocacy over the past few decades have combined to draw attention both to the inadequacies of criminal justice intervention in domestic violence as well as the law’s positive potential. Radical changes in law, policy, and practice have been implemented in the civil and criminal jurisdictions in most western countries, including Australia. More proactive intervention from criminal justice agencies has not been without its critics. The interests of victims of domestic violence have been portrayed by some as being in conflict with those of the justice system. This article explores this interaction using evaluation surveys and qualitative data from interviews with 360 victims of domestic violence in an urban Australian jurisdiction. Using a smaller subset of respondents, the article provides an exploratory examination of victims’ engagement with criminal prosecution and how they place themselves within the decision-making process and the objectives of the system. The article concludes that there is significant congruence between victim objectives and interests and those of a public-interest justice system.
Sullivan, C.M., Baptista, I., O’Halloran, S., Okroj, L., Morton, M., and Stewart, C.S (2008). Evaluating the Effectiveness of Women’s Refuges: A Multi-Country Approach to Model Development. Intl. Journal of Comp & Appl. Crim. Justice. Vol. 32, Issue 2, pp. 291 - 308.
There is increasing pressure on domestic violence victim service programs worldwide to demonstrate the impact of their work on those using their services. Many workers within such programs are also interested in understanding more about what is and is not working well for service users. The current project was a multi-country collaboration to design an outcome evaluation model that would be useful to domestic violence programs, easy and inexpensive to implement, and that would reflect the diverse experiences, needs, and concerns of women experiencing domestic abuse. Focusing at this initial stage on evaluating refuges, the project partners incorporated empowerment evaluation methods and feminist principles to create the model. This article presents the five phases of model development and provides preliminary findings from a pilot evaluation to demonstrate its utility. Next steps and recommendations are then discussed.
Moore, A.M., Smith, J., (2008). The Future of Interventions to Reduce Intimate Partner Violence: Concluding Remarks1 Intl. Journal of Comp & Appl. Crim. Justice. Vol. 32, Issue 2, pp. 309 - 320.
The amount of resources, including research, devoted to understanding, preventing, and reducing violence against women has increased tremendously over the past two decades. The pioneers of the domestic violence movement, including Susan Schechter and Erin Pizzey, would likely be optimistic about the progress made to date. This special journal issue on responding to intimate partner violence across the globe is further testimony to such progress. Still, as a field, violence against women (VAW) faces many challenges. There is continued debate about how violence against women should be defined, appropriate methods that should be used to obtain reliable information, and the interpretation of information currently known. Another major issue is the limited scientific rigor of much of the extant research. Different interpretations of the same data add to the confusion surrounding intimate partner violence (IPV) research. These challenges increase the difficulty in developing, enhancing, and expanding IPV interventions. Despite such complexities, there are promising strategies, as described in this special edition, that may help to guide the development, enhancement, expansion, and implementation of effective interventions.
