Interviewer: ‘Are women and girls ever responsible for the domestic violence they encounter?’ Student: ‘No, well, unless they did something really, really bad …’

Abstract

Research shows the ‘gendered nature’ of domestic violence, with Women’s Aid (a UK-based charity) estimating that 1 in 4 women are affected (2014). This paper reports on a project – funded by Comic Relief, completed by Nottinghamshire Domestic Violence Forum (now known as Equation) and evaluated by Nottingham Trent University. The project adopts a Whole School Approach in seeking to prevent domestic violence. Students at three secondary schools attended between one and five blocks of work, and special events. There is evidence of positive developments – with young people showing understanding of domestic violence as well as the margins between healthy and unhealthy relationships. However, not all students could reply ‘never’ to the question of ‘are women and girls to blame for the domestic violence they experience?’, remarking that if the woman had done something ‘really, really bad’ then violence might be justified. We argue that young people’s uncertainties need to be situated within the gender-unequal socio-contexts of contemporary society, and further call for a WSA to domestic violence prevention to be a compulsory part of the UK national curriculum.

Keywords:

• Domestic violence
• prevention work
• young people
• Whole School Approach

Acknowledgements

A version of this paper was presented at the Gender and Education Association Conference, London South Bank University 2013. The authors would like to thank delegates at the conference, Professor Azrini Wahidin, and the two anonymous JGS reviewers and the editor for helpful comments.

Notes

1. The UK Home Office has as its main responsibility law and order. For further details see https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office.

2. Jimmy Savile (who died in 2011) was originally a disc jockey and subsequently a television presenter. The very numbers of the complaints made against him, largely after his death, leave no room for doubt regarding his guilt, but he was not able to defend himself and victims/survivors did not have their day in court. Other presenters have subsequently been brought into a more wide-ranging investigation; Stuart Hall and Rolf Harris have been jailed.

3. In relation to the Philpott case there has been detailed press coverage suggesting the origins of the cause of the trial related to child custody arrangements against Mick Philpott that might have resulted in loss of children, and so loss of welfare benefits.

4. At risk populations are typically those in ‘troubled’ families, perhaps based upon prior violence or substance use, which have become familiar to social services and in many cases the police too. The focus on US sociology has typically been on the production of quantitative data, which arguably at least has failed to give the attention to case studies – with their search for deeper meanings – that may be found in much qualitative research.

5. The definition is now as follows: ‘Any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality. This can encompass, but is not limited to, the following types of abuse: psychological; physical; sexual; financial; [and] emotional’ (Home Office, 2013).

6. Comic Relief is a UK organisation which has sought to raise money to change lives through comedy events.

7. White Ribbon Day is an International Day seeking to EVAW.

8. The Likert Scale is a widely used rating scale, named after Rensis Likert, the American Psychologist who first developed it in the 1930s, and is designed to measure the intensity of people’s responses to an attitudinal statement. Respondents are presented with a statement and invited to place their responses on a balanced five (or seven) point scale, from ‘strongly agree’ through to ‘strongly disagree’ with a neutral mid-point.

9. By year 8 in the UK we typically mean children aged 13, in their eighth year of schooling, although this may not be true for all children in the UK and certainly there are international variations based upon the age at which children commence school.

10. The title refers to a currently popular UK television programme where hopeful entrepreneurs seek funding from wealthy investors on the basis of a presentation followed by questions and answers.

Additional information

Funding

Equation received funding from Comic Relief for the Whole School Approach (WSA) project.