Research on lad culture and gender-based violence (GBV) in student communities has examined hyper... more Research on lad culture and gender-based violence (GBV) in student communities has examined hypermasculine gender performances, with little attention paid to hierarchies of masculinity. We explore lad culture by analysing qualitative, in-depth interviews with students. Our findings challenge simplistic constructions of “good guys” as allies/protectors in opposition to hypermasculinised, deviant “bad guys”. We demonstrate how such binary constructions are premised upon gendered norms of men-as-protectors/women-as-weak and bolster problematic hierarchies of masculinity. We also highlight the crucial role of complicit masculinity in maintaining GBV-tolerant cultures. Our research suggests academic understandings of lad culture could benefit from a more comprehensive picture of the relationship between masculinity/ies and campus GBV. By theorising complex negotiations of hegemonic masculinity in this context, the paper also advances conceptual debates around the promise/limitations of c...
This timely report sheds light on the little known phenomenon of transnational marriage abandonme... more This timely report sheds light on the little known phenomenon of transnational marriage abandonment, a problem involving the abandonment of foreign national wives in their country of origin by their husbands who are nationals or residents of another country.
This chapter draws upon and contextualises the contributions in this collection, and explores bot... more This chapter draws upon and contextualises the contributions in this collection, and explores both theoretical debates that are relevant to, and more practical strategies for challenging gender-based violence in university communities.
As awareness of and frustration with sexism in academia grows, so too do strategies of resistance... more As awareness of and frustration with sexism in academia grows, so too do strategies of resistance. This chapter explores the concept of ‘resistance’ in relation to gender-based violence (GBV) in universities. In this context, ‘resistance’ includes work, much of it inspired by a feminist analysis, to prevent GBV, to hold institutions to account and to change university cultures so that they no longer invisibilise or condone GBV. Resistance to such efforts also comes from those who would support the status quo and those critical of the framing of anti-GBV campaigns. This chapter will explore how the ‘backlash’ against feminism and post-feminist equalisation discourses comprises types of resistance to radical attempts to eradicate this form of sexism in the academy.
In Part 1 of this feature essay, Sundari Anitha and Ruth Pearson introduce their new book, Striki... more In Part 1 of this feature essay, Sundari Anitha and Ruth Pearson introduce their new book, Striking Women: Struggles and Strategies of South Asian Women Workers from Grunwick to Gate Gourmet, which focuses on two industrial disputes in the UK: the famous Grunwick strike (1976-78) and the Gate Gourmet dispute of 2005. The book gives a voice to the women involved in the strikes and explores South Asian women’s contribution to the struggles for worker’s rights in Britain.
This article is the last in the series of three articles on transnational marriage abandonment. I... more This article is the last in the series of three articles on transnational marriage abandonment. It will consider the particular problem of dowry in transnational marriages which has implications for cases arising from abandonment in particular, and more broadly for cases of domestic violence and in financial settlements upon divorce in (international) family law. This article examines the meaning and nature of the practice of dowry and the contexts in which dowry is practiced in South Asia and in South Asian communities in the UK, as well as the implications of dowry for legal practice in England & Wales. The particular, the implications of dowry in transnational marriage abandonment will be scrutinised. Reflecting on the themes and issues emerging from the series, a set of recommendations in relation to gaps in current practice as well as risk indicators and recommendations to foster a more effective practice will be presented.
Abandonment of wives in their home countries by their husbands who are UK residents has become a ... more Abandonment of wives in their home countries by their husbands who are UK residents has become a growing phenomenon that practitioners may encounter in their work. This article explores the nature and consequences of transnational marriage abandonment for its victims and survivors, and argues that this practice should be considered as a form of domestic violence because it involves coercive and controlling behaviour intended to deprive a woman of her financial and residence rights and rights relating to her children. In the context of the recent recognition of transnational abandonment as a form of domestic abuse by the family justice system through Practice Direction 12j, It outlines some issues for policy-making on domestic violence as well as for frontline practitioners in the UK.
In Part 2 of this feature essay, Sundari Anitha and Ruth Pearson introduce their new book, Striki... more In Part 2 of this feature essay, Sundari Anitha and Ruth Pearson introduce their new book, Striking Women: Struggles and Strategies of South Asian Women Workers from Grunwick to Gate Gourmet, which focuses on two industrial disputes in the UK: the famous Grunwick strike (1976-78) and the Gate Gourmet dispute of 2005. The book gives a voice to the women involved in the strikes and explores South Asian women’s contribution to the struggles for worker’s rights in Britain.
Gender Based Violence in University Communities, 2018
This chapter examines the possibilities for crafting student responses to gender based violence (... more This chapter examines the possibilities for crafting student responses to gender based violence (GBV) in UK universities. Drawing upon the findings of the ‘Stand Together’ action research project at the University of Lincoln (UOL), it explores the possibilities and complexity of challenging gendered attitudes, behaviours and the broader cultural norms underpinning GBV in two sites where gender norms and everyday forms of GBV are re-inscribed, negotiated and resisted — social media and the night-time economy (NTE). The chapter first provides an overview of how the BI model at UOL was developed before discussing the research methods used. It then considers students' experiences of online ‘lad culture’; responses to objectification, sexism and rape culture on social media; students' experiences of sexual harassment in the NTE; and responses to sexual harassment in the NTE. The chapter concludes by outlining some of the key challenges and potential of prevention education in a u...
Gender Based Violence in University Communities, 2018
This introduction discusses the context and contours of some of the recent and emerging debates o... more This introduction discusses the context and contours of some of the recent and emerging debates on gender based violence (GBV) in university communities. It begins by defining GBV as ‘behaviour or attitudes underpinned by inequitable power relations that hurt, threaten or undermine people because of their (perceived) gender or sexuality’. GBV encompasses a continuum of behaviours and attitudes such as domestic violence, sexual violence, and expressions on social media which normalise sexism and sexual objectification. This introduction explains the nature of the problem associated with GBV, how to understand and respond to the possibilities and challenges that it presents, and how gender as a lens is increasingly becoming obscured when considering the causes and consequences of GBV. It also argues that we need to rethink the punitive responses, service provision and prevention education used to address GBV in universities. Finally, it provides an overview of the chapters that follow.
This article extends our understanding of how university students make sense of, and respond to, ... more This article extends our understanding of how university students make sense of, and respond to, sexual violence in the night-time economy (NTE). Based on semi-structured interviews with 26 students in a city in England, we examine students’ constructions of their experiences of sexual violence within the NTE, exploring their negotiations with, and resistance to, this violence. Building upon theories of postfeminism, we interrogate the possibilities for resistance within the gendered spaces of the NTE and propose a disaggregated conceptualization of agency to understand responses to sexual violence, thereby offering useful insights for challenging sexual violence in the NTE and in universities.
This paper takes as its starting point the compilation and circulation online of a list naming al... more This paper takes as its starting point the compilation and circulation online of a list naming alleged sexual harassers in Indian academia in order to examine broader questions about the nature of online activism to address gender-based violence. Set against the historical silencing of women who speak about violence as well as institutional mechanisms to address this issue through due process, we examine the meaning, impact and limitations of this list, which generated considerable discord and debate within feminists in India. In doing so, we consider the place of these new forms of collective actions and expressions of solidarity within the broader feminist campaigns to resist violence.
This article examines migrant women tourism workers’ understandings of, and diverse responses to,... more This article examines migrant women tourism workers’ understandings of, and diverse responses to, exploitative working conditions by taking account of the constraints posed by oppressive contexts and ideologies. It analyses how their location at the intersection of multiple axes of disadvantage and discrimination on account of gender, ethno-nationality, immigration status and migration history as well as their low-status employment and educational level, shapes both their understandings of particular experiences of exploitation and possible responses to these, and examines the effects of their practices upon the power structures at work. Based on the experiences of eleven women from Central and Eastern European countries working in the UK tourism industry, this article theorises workers’ responses to hyperexploitative employment relations by utilising a differentiated conceptualisation of agency as practices of resilience, reworking and resistance. In doing so, it rejects binary cat...
Abandonment of women in transnational marriages can be understood in the context of specific soci... more Abandonment of women in transnational marriages can be understood in the context of specific social milieus of community and kinship relations and legal jurisdictions associated with specific cultures of law. As a sociological-legal category that dismantles the myth of 'flexible citizenship' in transnational migration, abandonment must be seen in an experiential matrix constituted by the graded/differentiated diaspora, legal frameworks, and institutional structures, which frame the gendered citizen. This article attempts to read stories of abandonment in legal documents where testimonies are mediated by legal practitioners for ameliorative justice through the court, in tandem with personal narratives of abandonment as reported to the authors. Through such a reading, the article explores the manner in which particular narratives of personal hurt and 'personal/private' identity drawing from membership in the family and community relate with the public identity of the legal citizen, the public governance of marriage by the protective/paternal state, and the 'promise of happiness' in marriage.
This text was automatically generated on 1 May 2019. Revue française de civilisation britannique ... more This text was automatically generated on 1 May 2019. Revue française de civilisation britannique est mis à disposition selon les termes de la licence Creative Commons Attribution-Pas d'Utilisation Commerciale-Pas de Modification 4.0 International.
Financial abuse refers to men’s control over money, assets, and women’s education or paid work. A... more Financial abuse refers to men’s control over money, assets, and women’s education or paid work. As a corrective to existing undertheorization of men’s (and their family’s) abuse of and control over women’s unpaid (domestic) labor, this article proposes a new conceptualization of economic abuse. Drawing upon life-history interviews with 41 South Asian women from the United Kingdom and India, this article explores control and abuse in relation to financial resources and women’s paid work as well as unpaid work. It utilizes an intersectional perspective to explore how gender, migration status, race/ethnicity, and class can improve understanding of women’s experiences as a continuum of economic abuse.
This paper argues for the need to understand dowry-related abuse through a lens that focuses not ... more This paper argues for the need to understand dowry-related abuse through a lens that focuses not only on micro-and meso-level gendered socio-cultural milieus and economic norms but also on macro-level formal-legal structures and global power asymmetries. Based on lifehistory narratives of 57 women in India and 21 practitioner interviews, this paper documents a growing phenomenon whereby men who are resident in another country abuse their Indianorigin wives, appropriate their dowry and abandon them. While dowry-related abuse in such marriages is part of a continuum of domestic violence prevalent in South Asia and the South Asian diaspora, we explore how gender and migration intersect to exacerbate existing forms of violence against women and foster new forms of violence such as transnational abandonment. Gender-blind transnational formal-legal frameworks and gendered and transnational structural inequalities come together to construct transnational brides as 'disposable women' who can be abused, exploited and cast aside with impunity.
This paper examines the problematisation of sex-selective abortion (SSA) in UK parliamentary deba... more This paper examines the problematisation of sex-selective abortion (SSA) in UK parliamentary debates on Fiona Bruce's Abortion (Sex-Selection) Bill 2014–15 and on the subsequent proposed amendment to the Serious Crime Bill 2014–15. On the basis of close textual analysis, we argue that a discursive framing of SSA as a form of cultural oppression of minority women in need of protection underpinned Bruce's Bill; in contrast, by highlighting issues more commonly articulated in defence of women's reproductive rights, the second set of debates displaced this framing in favour of a broader understanding, drawing on postcolonial feminist critiques, of how socio-economic factors constrain all women in this regard. We argue that the problematisation of SSA explains the original cross-party support for, and subsequent defeat of, the policies proposed to restrict SSA. Our analysis also highlights the central role of ideology in the policy process, thus making politics visible in pol...
Based on life history narratives of 57 women in India and interviews with 21 practitioners, we do... more Based on life history narratives of 57 women in India and interviews with 21 practitioners, we document the neglect, abuse, and instrumental deprivation of women’s rights through the process of transnational abandonment. While gendered local sociocultural milieus and economic norms contribute to these harms, they are crucially enabled and sustained by transnational formal-legal frameworks. Widening the explanatory lens for understanding domestic violence beyond the family and community, we argue that in a globalized world, (inter)state policies serve to construct these women as a subordinate category of citizens—“disposable women”—who can be abused and abandoned with impunity.
Research on lad culture and gender-based violence (GBV) in student communities has examined hyper... more Research on lad culture and gender-based violence (GBV) in student communities has examined hypermasculine gender performances, with little attention paid to hierarchies of masculinity. We explore lad culture by analysing qualitative, in-depth interviews with students. Our findings challenge simplistic constructions of “good guys” as allies/protectors in opposition to hypermasculinised, deviant “bad guys”. We demonstrate how such binary constructions are premised upon gendered norms of men-as-protectors/women-as-weak and bolster problematic hierarchies of masculinity. We also highlight the crucial role of complicit masculinity in maintaining GBV-tolerant cultures. Our research suggests academic understandings of lad culture could benefit from a more comprehensive picture of the relationship between masculinity/ies and campus GBV. By theorising complex negotiations of hegemonic masculinity in this context, the paper also advances conceptual debates around the promise/limitations of c...
This timely report sheds light on the little known phenomenon of transnational marriage abandonme... more This timely report sheds light on the little known phenomenon of transnational marriage abandonment, a problem involving the abandonment of foreign national wives in their country of origin by their husbands who are nationals or residents of another country.
This chapter draws upon and contextualises the contributions in this collection, and explores bot... more This chapter draws upon and contextualises the contributions in this collection, and explores both theoretical debates that are relevant to, and more practical strategies for challenging gender-based violence in university communities.
As awareness of and frustration with sexism in academia grows, so too do strategies of resistance... more As awareness of and frustration with sexism in academia grows, so too do strategies of resistance. This chapter explores the concept of ‘resistance’ in relation to gender-based violence (GBV) in universities. In this context, ‘resistance’ includes work, much of it inspired by a feminist analysis, to prevent GBV, to hold institutions to account and to change university cultures so that they no longer invisibilise or condone GBV. Resistance to such efforts also comes from those who would support the status quo and those critical of the framing of anti-GBV campaigns. This chapter will explore how the ‘backlash’ against feminism and post-feminist equalisation discourses comprises types of resistance to radical attempts to eradicate this form of sexism in the academy.
In Part 1 of this feature essay, Sundari Anitha and Ruth Pearson introduce their new book, Striki... more In Part 1 of this feature essay, Sundari Anitha and Ruth Pearson introduce their new book, Striking Women: Struggles and Strategies of South Asian Women Workers from Grunwick to Gate Gourmet, which focuses on two industrial disputes in the UK: the famous Grunwick strike (1976-78) and the Gate Gourmet dispute of 2005. The book gives a voice to the women involved in the strikes and explores South Asian women’s contribution to the struggles for worker’s rights in Britain.
This article is the last in the series of three articles on transnational marriage abandonment. I... more This article is the last in the series of three articles on transnational marriage abandonment. It will consider the particular problem of dowry in transnational marriages which has implications for cases arising from abandonment in particular, and more broadly for cases of domestic violence and in financial settlements upon divorce in (international) family law. This article examines the meaning and nature of the practice of dowry and the contexts in which dowry is practiced in South Asia and in South Asian communities in the UK, as well as the implications of dowry for legal practice in England & Wales. The particular, the implications of dowry in transnational marriage abandonment will be scrutinised. Reflecting on the themes and issues emerging from the series, a set of recommendations in relation to gaps in current practice as well as risk indicators and recommendations to foster a more effective practice will be presented.
Abandonment of wives in their home countries by their husbands who are UK residents has become a ... more Abandonment of wives in their home countries by their husbands who are UK residents has become a growing phenomenon that practitioners may encounter in their work. This article explores the nature and consequences of transnational marriage abandonment for its victims and survivors, and argues that this practice should be considered as a form of domestic violence because it involves coercive and controlling behaviour intended to deprive a woman of her financial and residence rights and rights relating to her children. In the context of the recent recognition of transnational abandonment as a form of domestic abuse by the family justice system through Practice Direction 12j, It outlines some issues for policy-making on domestic violence as well as for frontline practitioners in the UK.
In Part 2 of this feature essay, Sundari Anitha and Ruth Pearson introduce their new book, Striki... more In Part 2 of this feature essay, Sundari Anitha and Ruth Pearson introduce their new book, Striking Women: Struggles and Strategies of South Asian Women Workers from Grunwick to Gate Gourmet, which focuses on two industrial disputes in the UK: the famous Grunwick strike (1976-78) and the Gate Gourmet dispute of 2005. The book gives a voice to the women involved in the strikes and explores South Asian women’s contribution to the struggles for worker’s rights in Britain.
Gender Based Violence in University Communities, 2018
This chapter examines the possibilities for crafting student responses to gender based violence (... more This chapter examines the possibilities for crafting student responses to gender based violence (GBV) in UK universities. Drawing upon the findings of the ‘Stand Together’ action research project at the University of Lincoln (UOL), it explores the possibilities and complexity of challenging gendered attitudes, behaviours and the broader cultural norms underpinning GBV in two sites where gender norms and everyday forms of GBV are re-inscribed, negotiated and resisted — social media and the night-time economy (NTE). The chapter first provides an overview of how the BI model at UOL was developed before discussing the research methods used. It then considers students' experiences of online ‘lad culture’; responses to objectification, sexism and rape culture on social media; students' experiences of sexual harassment in the NTE; and responses to sexual harassment in the NTE. The chapter concludes by outlining some of the key challenges and potential of prevention education in a u...
Gender Based Violence in University Communities, 2018
This introduction discusses the context and contours of some of the recent and emerging debates o... more This introduction discusses the context and contours of some of the recent and emerging debates on gender based violence (GBV) in university communities. It begins by defining GBV as ‘behaviour or attitudes underpinned by inequitable power relations that hurt, threaten or undermine people because of their (perceived) gender or sexuality’. GBV encompasses a continuum of behaviours and attitudes such as domestic violence, sexual violence, and expressions on social media which normalise sexism and sexual objectification. This introduction explains the nature of the problem associated with GBV, how to understand and respond to the possibilities and challenges that it presents, and how gender as a lens is increasingly becoming obscured when considering the causes and consequences of GBV. It also argues that we need to rethink the punitive responses, service provision and prevention education used to address GBV in universities. Finally, it provides an overview of the chapters that follow.
This article extends our understanding of how university students make sense of, and respond to, ... more This article extends our understanding of how university students make sense of, and respond to, sexual violence in the night-time economy (NTE). Based on semi-structured interviews with 26 students in a city in England, we examine students’ constructions of their experiences of sexual violence within the NTE, exploring their negotiations with, and resistance to, this violence. Building upon theories of postfeminism, we interrogate the possibilities for resistance within the gendered spaces of the NTE and propose a disaggregated conceptualization of agency to understand responses to sexual violence, thereby offering useful insights for challenging sexual violence in the NTE and in universities.
This paper takes as its starting point the compilation and circulation online of a list naming al... more This paper takes as its starting point the compilation and circulation online of a list naming alleged sexual harassers in Indian academia in order to examine broader questions about the nature of online activism to address gender-based violence. Set against the historical silencing of women who speak about violence as well as institutional mechanisms to address this issue through due process, we examine the meaning, impact and limitations of this list, which generated considerable discord and debate within feminists in India. In doing so, we consider the place of these new forms of collective actions and expressions of solidarity within the broader feminist campaigns to resist violence.
This article examines migrant women tourism workers’ understandings of, and diverse responses to,... more This article examines migrant women tourism workers’ understandings of, and diverse responses to, exploitative working conditions by taking account of the constraints posed by oppressive contexts and ideologies. It analyses how their location at the intersection of multiple axes of disadvantage and discrimination on account of gender, ethno-nationality, immigration status and migration history as well as their low-status employment and educational level, shapes both their understandings of particular experiences of exploitation and possible responses to these, and examines the effects of their practices upon the power structures at work. Based on the experiences of eleven women from Central and Eastern European countries working in the UK tourism industry, this article theorises workers’ responses to hyperexploitative employment relations by utilising a differentiated conceptualisation of agency as practices of resilience, reworking and resistance. In doing so, it rejects binary cat...
Abandonment of women in transnational marriages can be understood in the context of specific soci... more Abandonment of women in transnational marriages can be understood in the context of specific social milieus of community and kinship relations and legal jurisdictions associated with specific cultures of law. As a sociological-legal category that dismantles the myth of 'flexible citizenship' in transnational migration, abandonment must be seen in an experiential matrix constituted by the graded/differentiated diaspora, legal frameworks, and institutional structures, which frame the gendered citizen. This article attempts to read stories of abandonment in legal documents where testimonies are mediated by legal practitioners for ameliorative justice through the court, in tandem with personal narratives of abandonment as reported to the authors. Through such a reading, the article explores the manner in which particular narratives of personal hurt and 'personal/private' identity drawing from membership in the family and community relate with the public identity of the legal citizen, the public governance of marriage by the protective/paternal state, and the 'promise of happiness' in marriage.
This text was automatically generated on 1 May 2019. Revue française de civilisation britannique ... more This text was automatically generated on 1 May 2019. Revue française de civilisation britannique est mis à disposition selon les termes de la licence Creative Commons Attribution-Pas d'Utilisation Commerciale-Pas de Modification 4.0 International.
Financial abuse refers to men’s control over money, assets, and women’s education or paid work. A... more Financial abuse refers to men’s control over money, assets, and women’s education or paid work. As a corrective to existing undertheorization of men’s (and their family’s) abuse of and control over women’s unpaid (domestic) labor, this article proposes a new conceptualization of economic abuse. Drawing upon life-history interviews with 41 South Asian women from the United Kingdom and India, this article explores control and abuse in relation to financial resources and women’s paid work as well as unpaid work. It utilizes an intersectional perspective to explore how gender, migration status, race/ethnicity, and class can improve understanding of women’s experiences as a continuum of economic abuse.
This paper argues for the need to understand dowry-related abuse through a lens that focuses not ... more This paper argues for the need to understand dowry-related abuse through a lens that focuses not only on micro-and meso-level gendered socio-cultural milieus and economic norms but also on macro-level formal-legal structures and global power asymmetries. Based on lifehistory narratives of 57 women in India and 21 practitioner interviews, this paper documents a growing phenomenon whereby men who are resident in another country abuse their Indianorigin wives, appropriate their dowry and abandon them. While dowry-related abuse in such marriages is part of a continuum of domestic violence prevalent in South Asia and the South Asian diaspora, we explore how gender and migration intersect to exacerbate existing forms of violence against women and foster new forms of violence such as transnational abandonment. Gender-blind transnational formal-legal frameworks and gendered and transnational structural inequalities come together to construct transnational brides as 'disposable women' who can be abused, exploited and cast aside with impunity.
This paper examines the problematisation of sex-selective abortion (SSA) in UK parliamentary deba... more This paper examines the problematisation of sex-selective abortion (SSA) in UK parliamentary debates on Fiona Bruce's Abortion (Sex-Selection) Bill 2014–15 and on the subsequent proposed amendment to the Serious Crime Bill 2014–15. On the basis of close textual analysis, we argue that a discursive framing of SSA as a form of cultural oppression of minority women in need of protection underpinned Bruce's Bill; in contrast, by highlighting issues more commonly articulated in defence of women's reproductive rights, the second set of debates displaced this framing in favour of a broader understanding, drawing on postcolonial feminist critiques, of how socio-economic factors constrain all women in this regard. We argue that the problematisation of SSA explains the original cross-party support for, and subsequent defeat of, the policies proposed to restrict SSA. Our analysis also highlights the central role of ideology in the policy process, thus making politics visible in pol...
Based on life history narratives of 57 women in India and interviews with 21 practitioners, we do... more Based on life history narratives of 57 women in India and interviews with 21 practitioners, we document the neglect, abuse, and instrumental deprivation of women’s rights through the process of transnational abandonment. While gendered local sociocultural milieus and economic norms contribute to these harms, they are crucially enabled and sustained by transnational formal-legal frameworks. Widening the explanatory lens for understanding domestic violence beyond the family and community, we argue that in a globalized world, (inter)state policies serve to construct these women as a subordinate category of citizens—“disposable women”—who can be abused and abandoned with impunity.
This article maps the trajectory of South Asian feminist struggles in Britain 1 and analyses the ... more This article maps the trajectory of South Asian feminist struggles in Britain 1 and analyses the key issues that have shaped them. We begin by setting the context for the emergence of a distinctive South Asian feminist voice out of existing forms of self-organisation and resistance within minority communities and its location at the intersection of gender, race and class. We then move on to outline the nature and effects of four decades of activism, policy interventions and practice by South Asian feminist groups in Britain. We locate this activism within the context of government policy and statutory practice that has shifted from multiculturalism to multifaithism and highlight the implications for women's and girls' rights and the costs to secular feminist provision, particularly in relation to combating violence against women and girls. Lastly, we also analyse how recent neo-liberal policies of austerity and shrinking welfare provision pose key ideological challenges for South Asian feminist organising.
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