Enabling the Epistemic Authority of Domestic Violence Survivors in a Work Setting

Abstract

Domestic violence is a social issue, which can cause immense pain and suffering to people in our community. However, it also presents a challenge to business. How can businesses offer support to domestic violence survivors to navigate an immediate crisis situation or, if they wish, to empower survivors with the epistemic authority to apply their own personal experiences and knowledge to affect change in an organisation? In this paper we argue that managers have an important role to play in enabling the epistemic authority of members of the workforce which have been affected by domestic violence. We argue that the ability of a manager to enable a domestic violence survivor is grounded in that manager’s willingness to critically examine their own sense of self. Will they be guided by the prevailing cultural understanding around domestic violence in their organisation? Or will they be guided by their own values and understanding? We examine these questions with reference to West’s (2008) model of existential ethical decision making.

Keywords

• Existentialism;
• Domestic Violence
• Workplace
• Epistemic Authority
• Australia