The Absence of a Gendered Perspective in Contemporary Discussions on Violence Against Women

Abstract

The author addresses the question of why, after more than half a century of feminist heritage in the field of conceptualisation and understanding of violence against women, its importance should be re-established and re-examined within a scientific context. The author starts from the premise that the definition of what actually constitutes violence is no longer at the forefront of public discussions. There is also a lack of contextual examination of violent events through the lens of power relations in the existing gender order. Public discourse, which is characterised by quick and superficial reflections on individual events that are taken out of context is completely devoid of any insight into the problem of violence against women, due to the continued gender inequality in society. Therefore, the main purpose of this article is to highlight the importance of understanding violence against women through the prism of gender or gender inequality, which is the key contribution of feminist structuralist theory. In light of this, a critique of feminist structuralist theory is presented, as it is the one that has laid down the foundation for understanding violence against women, while not providing all the tools needed for a complex understanding of the problem in its entirety. The author uses the example of the Harvey Weinstein scandal to attempt to illuminate the issue.

Keywords

• violence, violence against women, sexual violence, sexual inequality, male domination, power, control