Violence against women

SOURCEBOOK ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: Claire M. Renzetti, Jeffrey L Edleson and Raquel Kennedy Bergen Editors; Sage Publication India Pvt. Ltd., M-32, Market, Greater Kailash, Part I, New Delhi-110048 $.49.95.

WOMEN EXPERIENCE a multitude of forms of violence. From female infanticide to dating violence to the abuse of elder women, we see that they are victims of violence at every stage in their life course, and violence crosses racial, ethnic, and socio economic boundaries. Violence against women is a centuries old problem, but scholarly discussion has centred on this topic only in recent decades. The explosion of information clearly demonstrates the need for a comprehensive analysis of the complex theoretical, methodological, and ethical issues surrounding this still-controversial area. This is a collection of scholarly writings that extensively cover current research on violence against women. The four parts of this volume examine theoretical and methodological issues in research, types of violence, prevention and direct intervention, and continuing and emerging issues in both domestic and international public policy.

Part I consists of five chapters along with a special topic Men researching violence against women. Here, in chapter one, Jana L. Jasinski introduces the major paradigms that violence-against- women researchers use, to frame their work. Chapter two by DeKeseredy and Shwartz illustrates the dualistic nature of violence-against-women. Problems of operationalisation are further addressed in Sujata Desai and Linda E. Saltzman's chapter on measurement issues in this research. In chapter four, Jacquelyn C. Campbell and Jacqueline D. Dienemann turn our attention to ethical issues in research in this topic. Finally, Jeffrey L. Edleson and Andrea L. Bible discuss collaborative research between academics and practitioners in chapter.

In chapter 6, under Part II, Kathleen A. Kendall-Tackett addresses the victimisation of female children from a cross- cultural perspective. In chapter seven, Karen Bachar and May P. Koss provide a comprehensive discussion of rape, with a focus on sexual violence against college-age women. As Patricia Mahoney, Linda M. Williams, and Carolyn M. West argue in chapter eight, women are more likely to be raped, beaten, and killed by intimate partners than by strangers. Linda Vinton addresses a specific population of women, who are frequently overlooked as victims of violence the elderly, in chapter nine. In chapter 10, R. Amy Elman provides an analysis of disability pornography and its relationship to sexual violence against women. In the final chapter of this section, Phoebe Morgan defines the problem of sexual harassment and explores the complexity of this form of violence against women. Morgan focuses on the multitude of effects that this violence against women in the workplace has on the personal and professional lives of women. Part III focuses on the prevention and direct intervention to stop and reduce violence against women. Several chapters in this section focus on the U.S. legal system and various efforts to enforce law and influence the criminal justice system to be more sensitive to the needs of victims.

Part IV elaborates on some of the issues raised in previous sections and addresses topics that are just beginning to capture the attention of researchers on violence against women. This section ends with a note on future possibilities that "while through networks and other means, women have begun the struggle to eliminate violence against them as a human rights abuse{hellip} the road will undoubtedly be long, but the successes to date are encouraging''. For the first time in one book, great minds from three domains address the issues on the topic at hand. Here, we find ideas that will be catalysts to awareness, prevention, and intervention. This book will serve as a resource to people all over the world and instil the values that will alleviate violence against women.

GEORGINA PETER

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