Respectable, Disreputable, or Rightful? Young Nicaraguan Women’s Discourses on Femininity, Intimate Partner Violence, and Sexual Abuse: A Grounded Theory Situational Analysis

ABSTRACT

This situational analysis study aims to position the discourses that young Nicaraguan women use in their understanding of femininities, male intimate partner violence (IPV), and men’s sexual violence toward women (SA). Eight focus group discussions with a total of 59 women were conducted. Positional maps were used to display the data. The findings show a dominant discourse that portrays femininity as enacting attributes habitually bestowed to men such as independence and agency, while still upholding key patriarchal conceptions (respectability) limiting women’s agency. Tolerance of IPV and SA by nonpartners varies depending on women’s perceived respectability and agency. Most important, we identified a pro-women’s rights resistance discourse that constructs femininity and advocates nonviolence from a human rights perspective.

KEYWORDS:

• Femininities
• gender
• IPV
• nicaragua
• sexual abuse