This article reviews current research on domestic violence by women and attempts to answer two questions: (a) Are women who assault their heterosexual partners different from male batterers? If so, (b) how are they different from male batterers? Pertinent studies have been categorized as research promoting gender symmetry of intimate abuse, research claiming women's violence toward abusive male partners as self-defense and/or retaliatory action, and research focusing on multiple corollaries of women's violence. The ecological nested model is recommended for research, so the full context is taken into account to understand women's use of violence.From its inception, the anti-domestic violence movement in the United States has been shaped by the recognition that abuse of women is prevalent in families, especially by male intimate partners. In the past 25 years, battered women and their advocates have worked tirelessly to move domestic violence from a private matter to the public discourse. The proliferation of agencies, research, grant monies, policy making, and media attention on the topic indicates the considerable success of this endeavor.A significant activity in anti-domestic violence work has centered on holding the state accountable for women's safety. To this end, the anti-domestic violence movement has paid special attention to modifying the criminal justice system, as it can play a critical role in the lives of women experiencing abuse in their homes. To prevent the legal system from minimizing the abuse of women 1364 AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am deeply grateful for the support, assistance, and guidance provided to me by Anne Marshall, Ellen Pence, Sue Osthoff, and Andrea Bible throughout the development of this article. I also thank Dr. Jeffrey Edleson for his generous encouragement and the two anonymous reviewers of this journal for their helpful suggestions.
This article examines the ideologies and conditions that form the realities of the lives of Asian Indian immigrant battered women. Twelve highly educated women from India who had sought outside help due to spousal abuse were interviewed for this study. Ten women in this group were foreign born, and two were brought up in the United States. The interviews, encompassing early socialization to life as an immigrant, were analyzed to tease out elements that affect women's experiences of intimate violence. The most important factor in these women's lives seemed to be childhood indoctrination into the ideals of “good” wife and mother that include sacrifice of personal freedom and autonomy. Although the majority of women worked as professionals, economic independence did not seem to provide them with a sense of empowerment. Furthermore, they felt responsible for the reputation of their families in India, were eager not to compromise their families' honor with a divorce, and operated under the added pressures of preserving traditions and presenting an “unblemished” image of the community to the U.S. mainstream. The story of Arundhati, an ancient Indian sage, has been invoked here to elaborate the ideology of the feminine gender role.
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