Storying the immobilities of gender violence in the UK and Mexico

Storying the immobilities of gender violence in the UK and Mexico is an English/Spanish book of visual and textual narratives of gender-based violence (GBV) in the UK and Mexico. The book is based on an Arts and Humanities funded project, which sought to engage new audiences with the im/mobilities of GBV through art. Im/mobilities here refers to the intermittent constraining and forcing of movements by individuals or institutions and as argued here, produces GBV. Visual and textual stories convey the 'felt' experience of GBV, engaging readers and audiences in the apparently 'mundane' as well as the ‘shocking'. Such stories help contest the prominence of crime statistics in evidencing GBV, statistics which often distort experience and reflect and maintain exclusionary policies and practices, particularly for minoritised communities. Our trans-national project invited artists and creative writers from diverse backgrounds in the UK and Mexico to respond to lived accounts of GBV in comic stories, short stories, poems, 3D installations, fine art photography and painting and film. These were exhibited in consecutive exhibitions in Mexico City and Brighton, which invited a range of audiences to engage in Roundtable and panel discussions as well as arts-based workshops. This book brings together these visual and textual stories and sets out a series of readings and analyses that seek to further knowledge on GBV in different cultural contexts.