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‘I Hate the Word “Victim”’: An Exploration of Recognition of Domestic Violence in Same Sex Relationships1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2010

Catherine Donovan  and
Marianne Hester
Catherine Donovan
Affiliation:
Faculty of Education and Society, University of Sunderland E-mail: Catherine.donovan@sunderland.ac.uk
Marianne Hester
Affiliation:
School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol E-mail: Marianne.hester@bristol.ac.uk
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Abstract

In this article, drawing on interviews with women and men in same sex relationships who have experienced domestic violence, we explore the ways in which recognition of domestic violence can be hampered by public stories about the phenomenon and practices of love. Public stories construct domestic violence as a gendered, heterosexual phenomenon that is predominantly physical in nature. Victims of domestic violence are also constructed as ‘other’, weak and passive. In addition, we argue that practices of love obfuscate practices of violence; and can also result in victim/survivors constructing themselves as stronger than the perpetrator who needs their care.

Type
Themed Section on ‘Harm’, ‘Abuse’, Agency and Resilience Across the Lifespan
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , April 2010 , pp. 279 - 289
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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