Capacitating care: Activist anthropology in ethnographies of gender‐based violence

Abstract

In ethnographic analyses of gender‐based violence (GBV), anthropologists working on the front‐lines of advocacy and service delivery have increasingly adopted dual roles as activists and researchers. While these positionings have allowed for alternative fields of vision in the ethnographic process, less attention has been dedicated to what these roles do ethnographically, and the kinds of skills and core competencies advocacy roles teach us as feminist anthropologists. If front‐line work has become a tacit best practice of ethnographies in contexts of GBV, then we must ask what kinds of training and preparation is necessary for contemporary anthropologists who want to pursue research among survivors or care providers responding to conditions of violence. I propose that we need to develop capacity‐building strategies that more transparently address these implicit best practices as part of our feminist ethics of care. This investment in capacitating care would acknowledge the moral compulsion to research the experiences and needs of survivor populations, while also considering how we equip ourselves to respond to the specialized needs of survivors, and the forms of care work with survivors necessitates.

Self-care for gender-based violence researchers – Beyond bubble baths and chocolate pralines

“…In light of these insights, we align with feminist scholarship, and in particular women of colour feminists, who have previously critiqued prominent approaches to self-care as too centred on the individual, and who move beyond individually tuned self-care strategies (Ahmed, 2014; Ward, 2015; Michaeli, 2017; Backe, 2020). According to this, ‘feminist legacies and conceptualizations of self-care and well-being are anything but individualistic and de-politicized’ (Michaeli, 2017: 53).…”

“…Especially as many (early career) researchers receive little or no formal fieldwork training, preparation or de-briefing (Irgil et al, 2021; Schwartz and Cronin-Furman, 2022), and in particular on aspects of mental well-being (Backe, 2020), these affective responses after the actual fieldwork period often come as a surprise and may be perceived as unwarranted or disproportionate. Indeed, many of us may be prepared to set in place suitable coping strategies while ‘in the field’ but have prepared very few strategies for coping upon return from fieldwork (Schulz and Kreft, 2021).…”

“…The SVRI guidelines (2015) similarly mention to ‘(m)aximise collegiality and support from colleagues to avoid isolation’ (13) as specific coping advice for researchers. We build on these initial reflections and integrate our own experiences, to show how peer-support networks have constituted vital caring resources for us in the context of researching GBV (see Backe, 2020).…”

“…Most of the existing self-care guidelines, however, are specifically tailored towards practitioners, humanitarian workers, service-providers and front-line staff (Frey et al, 2017; Williamson et al, 2020). The experiences of (academic) researchers thereby remain largely overlooked (Backe, 2020; Nikischer, 2019). Based on existing research and our own experiences, we maintain that GBV researchers engaging in fieldwork often face particular experiences, challenges and needs, that may include: unsupportive (or unprepared) institutional environments and a lack of structural support (Coles et al, 2014); an often individual and isolated fieldwork and writing experience (Theidon, 2014); a sense of helplessness due to an inability to offer concrete assistance to GBV victims/survivors participating in research (Campbell and Wisco, 2015); very limited training and preparation to conduct fieldwork, let alone deal with trauma (Irgil et al, 2021; Schwartz and Cronin-Furman, 2022).…”

“Drinking Too Much, Fighting Too Much”: The Dual “Disasters” of Intimate Partner Violence and Alcohol Use in South Africa

“…Collecting stories around GBV is historically challenging for a number of ethical and cultural reasons. Research guides advising best practices for qualitative or quantitative studies around violence recommend asking questions about behavior, rather than whether or not someone has experienced IPV (Backe, 2020; Garcia-Moreno, 2001). This approach is informed by the recognition that labels like domestic violence and martial rape may not be appropriate in certain cultural contexts (Mulla & Hlavka, 2011).…”