Citation

Wendt S. Affilia 2008; 23(2): 144-155.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0886109908314326

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Research has shown that spiritual and religious identification plays a role in defining women's experiences of violence and therefore that social workers need to acknowledge and create safe spaces to talk about this identification. This article describes a rural Australian study that focused on the impact of a local culture on domestic violence, in which Christianity strongly influenced women's experiences of violence. It is argued that looking at women's experiences of domestic violence through a feminist poststructuralist lens is valuable because it provides a framework for exploring and sensitively challenging oppressive discourses that inform women's identities.