The Class Dimensions of Sexual Violence in Marriage and Intimate Relationships

• In Event: Research on Gender Violence

Abstract

How does social class affect sexual violence against women in intimate relationships? While such violence may be found in virtually every community within the United States, deep social divisions mark women’s vulnerability. The interconnections between structural inequalities and women’s victimization must be made clear.

Drawing from a class-stratified sample of 60 women who have been abused by intimate partners, this study examines sexual violence in the context of both class privilege and class disadvantage. Women interviewed for this qualitative study include women who are wealthy, professional, working-class, and poor. Half of the women reported abuse in their marriages, and half were abused in unmarried relationships.

This presentation will address the range of ways that men attempt to control women’s sexuality in intimate relationships, encompassing rape, threats and pressure to have sex, sexual degradation, delusional jealousy, surveillance, and reproductive abuse.

How did social class affect these women’s vulnerability to sexual violence by intimates? What factors caused them to feel trapped in these relationships? What enabled them to end their abusive relationships? Interviews with women from different social classes offer insights into both their individual experiences and the response of their communities to this violence and abuse.

Author

• James Ptacek, Suffolk University