Pornography and Violence Against Women in the Heartland: Results from a Rural Souteast Ohio Study

• In Event: Family and Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

Many rural parts of the U.S. are becoming "pornified." Furthermore, there is growing quantitative evidence revealing that rural women are at higher risk of intimate violence than their urban and suburban counterparts. In-depth interviews with 43 rural southeast Ohio women who were trying to leave or who left their male partners reveal that pornography is a major component of the problem of rural woman abuse. The main objective of this paper is threefold: (1) to present the results of our qualitative study; (2) to suggest future directions in theoretical and empirical work; and (3) to propose progressive policies based on our findings.

Authors

• Walter Steven DeKeseredy, West Virginia University

• Amanda Sanchez, West Virginia University

• Martin D. Schwartz, George Washington University