Surviving domestic violence: gender, poverty and agency

How do women survive domestic violence? What actions do they take? How important are their children? How do they relate to their home? Are they able to keep their jobs? What responses do they get from their families, their friends and the wider community? How can levels of support be enhanced? Surviving Domestic Violence follows a group of women on their journeys through and away from abusive relationships. Using a gendered lens, seven influential social dimensions are examined: power, emotion, children, home, economic resource, informal and community support. Struggling with domestic violence and poverty, women actively pursue safety for themselves and their children. A gendered analysis of external structural contexts, as well as individual responses reveals the constraints women face in achieving support to gain safety. The book concludes that an overall strategy to decrease domestic violence needs to focus on economic independence for women, enhancing responses towards them and their children not only from the formal agencies but also from informal support networks and the wider community.