Gender-based violence as difficult knowledge: pedagogies for rebalancing the masculine and the feminine

ABSTRACT

Gender-based violence is a staggering but normalized global phenomenon, illustrated by the global reach of the #MeToo movement. Gender-based violence and the impacts of trauma enter learning spaces daily, acknowledged or not. Adult learners often respond to learning about gender relations with avoidance, denial, fear, defensiveness and trivialization, all facets of resistance. Britzman calls this ‘difficult knowledge’. Yet, education does reduce gender-based violence. The first step toward trauma-informed education is awareness of the pervasiveness of gender-based violence and its reverberations in education. Thus, we provide a global snapshot of statistics and definitions. Second, we describe an extensive literature review which revealed little explicit attention to gender-based violence in the field, reproducing hiddenness and ‘unspeakableness’. Third, we analyze the myths and theories about gender-based violence echoed by learners, which either reproduces the conditions of violence or creates opportunities for transformative learning. Drawing from masculinity and feminist studies, we analyze how genders are educated into patriarchy and violence, largely through informal education. We then propose principles for unlearning violence and trauma-informed education as well as guidance for addressing difficult knowledge and learner resistance. By unflinchingly addressing the deep structure of patriarchy, educators can design pedagogies for rebalancing the Masculine and the Feminine.

KEYWORDS:

• Gender-based violence
• sexual violence
• intimate partner violence
• adult education
• lifelong learning and education
• trauma-informed pedagogy
• Violence against Women movement
• difficult knowledge
• educational justice

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

We wish to thank the Centre for Research & Education on Violence Against Women & Children for making this research possible.

Notes on contributors

Elizabeth Lange

Elizabeth Lange is Associate Professor of Adult Education (on leave), St. Francis Xavier University, Nova Scotia, Canada with over 30 years of experience as a formal and nonformal educator. Her research focuses on transformative learning and education for sustainability, social change, social justice and transculturality, found in over 35 refereed articles and peer reviewed book chapters. The Purposes of Adult Education, co-written with Bruce Spencer, is a Canadian text that serves as an introduction to the field of adult education in Canada. Find her at https://elizabethlange.ca.

Susan Young

Susan Young, Masters in Adult Education, St. Francis Xavier University, has worked professionally for over 25 years with courageous survivors of sexual and domestic violence. She has been involved at the Canadian local, provincial and national levels to address issues of violence against women within political, legal, social and academic forums seeking to become more sensitive to the impact of trauma on survivors. Susan currently works as a professional certified coach and mindfulness facilitator in private practice in Kingston, Ontario.