Skip to main content

Engaging in Gender-Based Violence Research: Adopting a Feminist and Participatory Perspective

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Understanding Gender-Based Violence

Abstract

Researching gender-based violence involves different challenges for both participants and researchers, including risks to their mental well-being and physical safety. The possibilities of such research having adverse effects for participants are often stronger in cross-cultural research, since researchers are not always well aware of the locally and culturally specific sensitivities in relation to the issue of gender-based violence. The unequal power relations between researcher and participants, which can exist in all settings, may be exacerbated in contexts of cultural difference. To mitigate these risks and instead attempt to make research a beneficial or even transformative experience for participants, researchers can consider adopting feminist and participatory approaches. After explaining in more detail the risks of gender-based violence research, this chapter describes how feminist and participatory research methods respond to these risks, highlighting particularly the scope for creative approaches to such research.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 64.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. True J. The political economy of violence against women. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2012.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  2. Thomas SN, Weber S, Bradbury-Jones C. Using participatory and creative methods to research gender-based violence in the global south and with indigenous communities: findings from a scoping review. Trauma Violence Abuse. 2020.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Taylor J, Bradbury-Jones C. Sensitive issues in healthcare research: the protection paradox. J Res Nurs. 2011;16(4):303–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Malpass A, Sales K, Feder G. Reducing symbolic violence in the research encounter: collaborating with a survivor of domestic abuse in a qualitative study in UK primary care. Sociol Health Illn. 2016;38(3):442–58.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Ponic P, Jategaonkar N. Balancing safety and action: ethical protocols for photovoice research with women who have experienced violence. Arts Health. 2012;4(3):189–202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Adams V. Metrics: what counts in global health. Durham, NC: Duke University Press; 2016.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  7. Ellsberg M, Heise L, Pena R, Agurto S, Winkvist A. Researching domestic violence against women: methodological and ethical considerations. Stud Fam Plann. 2001;32(1):1–16.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Merry SE. The seductions of quantification: measuring human rights, gender violence, and sex trafficking. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; 2016.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  9. Ryan L, Golden A. “Tick the box please”: a reflexive approach to doing quantitative social research. Sociology. 2006;40(6):1191–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Alhabib S, Nur U, Jones R. Domestic violence against women: systematic review of prevalence studies. J Fam Violence. 2009;25(4):369–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Hughes C, Cohen RL. Feminists really do count: the complexity of feminist methodologies. Soc Res Method. 2010;13(3):189–96.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Ellsberg M, Heise L. Researching violence against women: a practical guide for researchers and activists. Washington, DC: World Health Organisation/PATH; 2005.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Hyden M. Narrating sensitive topics. In: Andrews M, Squire C, Tamboukou M, editors. Doing narrative research. London: Sage; 2008. p. 121–36.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Westmarland N, Bows H. Researching gender, violence and abuse: theory, methods, action. Abingdon: Routledge; 2019.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Sikweyiya Y, Jewkes R. Perceptions and experiences of research participants on gender-based violence community based survey: implications for ethical guidelines. PLoS One. 2012;7(4):e35495.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  16. Hossain M, McAlpine A. Gender-based violence research methodologies in humanitarian settings: an evidence review and recommendations. Cardiff: Elrha; 2017.

    Google Scholar 

  17. McGarry J, Ali P. Researching domestic violence and abuse in healthcare settings: challenges and issues. J Res Nurs. 2016;21(5–6):465–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. World Health Organization (WHO). Ethical and safety recommendations for intervention research on violence against women. In: Building on lessons from the WHO publication ‘Putting women first: Ethical and safety recommendations for research on domestic violence against women’. Geneva: WHO; 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Ellsberg M, Potts A. Ethical considerations for research and evaluation on ending violence against women and girls: guidance paper prepared by the global Women’s institute (GWI) for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Canberra: DFAT; 2018.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Van der Heijden I, Harries J, Abrahams N. Ethical considerations for disability-inclusive gender-based violence research: reflections from a south African qualitative case study. Glob Public Health. 2019;14(5):737–49.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Jewkes R, Wagman J. Generating needed evidence while protecting women research participants in a study of domestic violence in South Africa: a fine balance. In: Lavery JV, Wahl ER, Grady C, Emanuel EJ, editors. Ethical issues in international biomedical research: a case book. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2007. p. 350–5.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Skinner T, Hester M, Malos E. Methodology, feminism and gender violence. In: Skinner T, Hester M, Malos E, editors. Researching gender violence: feminist methodology in action. Cullompton: Willan; 2005. p. 1–22.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Judkins-Cohn TM, Kielwasser-Withrow K, Owen M, Ward J. Ethical principles of informed consent: exploring nurses’ dual role of care provider and researcher. J Contin Educ Nurs. 2014;45(1):35–42.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Letherby G. Feminist research in theory and practice. Buckingham: Open University Press; 2003.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Roberts H. Women and their doctors: power and powerlessness in the research process. In: Roberts H, editor. Doing feminist research. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul; 1993. p. 7–29.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Stanley L, Wise S. Breaking out again: feminist ontology and epistemology. 2nd ed. London: Routledge; 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Nagy Hesse-Biber S. Feminist research: exploring, interrogating, and transforming the interconnections of epistemology, methodology and method. In: Nagy Hesse-Biber S, editor. The handbook of feminist research. 2nd ed. Los Angeles: Sage; 2012. p. 2–26.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  28. Oliveira E. The personal is political: a feminist reflection on a journey into participatory arts-based research with sex worker migrants in South Africa. Gender Dev. 2019;27(3):523–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Jaggar AM. Love and knowledge: emotion in feminist epistemology. Inquiry. 1989;32(2):151–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Krystalli R. Narrating violence: feminist dilemmas and approaches. In: Shepherd LJ, editor. Handbook on gender and violence. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar; 2019. p. 173–88.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  31. Haraway DJ. Situated knowledges: the science question in feminism and the privilege of partial perspective. Fem Stud. 1988;14(3):575–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. hooks, b. Yearning: race, gender, and cultural politics. Boston: South End Press; 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Lorde A. The Master’s tools will never dismantle the Master’s house. In: Sister outsider: essays and speeches. Berkeley: Crossing Press; 2007. p. 110–4.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Tuhiwai Smith L. Decolonizing methodologies. 2nd ed. London: Zed Books; 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  35. Ahmed S. A phenomenology of whiteness. Fem Theory. 2007;8(2):149–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Mannell J, Guta A. The ethics of researching intimate partner violence in global health: a case study from global health research. Glob Public Health. 2018;13(8):1035–49.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Nnawulezi N, Lippy C, Serrata J, Rodriguez R. Doing equitable work in inequitable conditions: an introduction to a special issue on transformative research methods in gender-based violence. J Fam Violence. 2018;33:507–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Narayan U. Dislocating cultures: identities, traditions, and third world feminism. Abingdon: Routledge; 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  39. Palmary I. “In your experience”: research as gendered cultural translation. Gend Place Cult. 2011;18(1):99–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Vara R, Patel N. Working with interpreters in qualitative psychological research: methodological and ethical issues. Qual Res Psychol. 2011;9(1):75–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Crenshaw K. Mapping the margins: intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford Law Rev. 1991;43(6):1241–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Connell R. Gender, health and theory: conceptualising the issue, in local and world perspective. Soc Sci Med. 2012;74:1675–83.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Lykes MB, Scheib H. The artistry of emancipatory practice: photovoice, creative techniques, and feminist anti-racist participatory action research. In: Bradbury H, editor. The SAGE handbook of action research. 3rd ed. London: Sage; 2017. p. 130–41.

    Google Scholar 

  44. Cornwall A, Jewkes R. What is participatory research? Soc Sci Med. 1995;41(12):1667–76.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Kesby M, Kindon S, Pain R. “Participatory” approaches and diagramming techniques. In: Flowerdew R, Martin D, editors. Methods in human geography. A guide for students doing a research project. 2nd ed. Harlow: Pearson Education; 2005. p. 144–66.

    Google Scholar 

  46. Fals-Borda O. The application of participatory action-research in Latin America. Int Sociol. 1987;2(4):329–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. Freire P. Pedagogy of the oppressed. 2nd ed. London: Penguin Books; 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  48. Gaventa J, Cornwall A. Power and knowledge. In: Reason P, Bradbury H, editors. The SAGE handbook of action research: participative inquiry and practice. 2nd ed. London: Sage; 2008. p. 172–89.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  49. Wang C, Burris MA. Photovoice: concept, methodology, and use for participatory needs assessment. Health Educ Behav. 1997;24(3):369–87.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  50. Clark T. “We’re over-researched here!”: exploring accounts of research fatigue within qualitative research engagements. Sociology. 2008;42(5):953–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. Weber S. Participatory visual research with displaced persons: “listening” to post-conflict experiences through the visual. J Refug Stud. 2019;32(3):417–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sanne Weber .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Weber, S., Thomas, S. (2021). Engaging in Gender-Based Violence Research: Adopting a Feminist and Participatory Perspective. In: Bradbury-Jones, C., Isham, L. (eds) Understanding Gender-Based Violence. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65006-3_16

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65006-3_16

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-65005-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-65006-3

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics