Claims About Women's Use of Non-fatal Force in Intimate Relationships: A Contextual Review of Canadian Research

• NCJ Number: 240600
• Journal: Violence Against Women Volume: 9 Issue: 18 Dated: September 2012 Pages: 1008-1026
• Author(s): Molly Dragiewicz; Walter S. DeKeseredy
• Date Published: September 2012
• Length: 19 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article evaluates common claims about Canadian women's use of nonlethal force in heterosexual intimate relationships.

Abstract

Claims that violence is gender-neutral are increasingly becoming "common sense" in Canada. Antifeminist groups assert that the high rates of woman abuse uncovered by major Canadian national surveys conducted in the early 1990s are greatly exaggerated and that women are as violent as men. The production of degendered rhetoric about "intimate partner violence" contributes to claims that women's and men's violence is symmetrical and mutual. This article critically evaluates common claims about Canadian women's use of nonlethal force in heterosexual intimate relationships in the context of the political struggle over the hegemonic frame for violence and abuse. The extant Canadian research documenting significant sex differences in violence and abuse against adult intimate partners is reviewed. Abstract published by arrangement with Sage Journals.