Constructing a threefold architecture of domestic abuse in rural areas

• In Event: Rural Subjugation: How dominance and control pervade the rural space

Abstract

This presentation will showcase the theoretical framework used to help make sense of the data collected from my PhD research. The research uses the theory of Intersectionality alongside Keith Halfacree’s three-fold architecture of rural life, to provide a complex and nuanced understanding of domestic abuse in rural areas, with a focus on the processes of differentiation that exist in rural areas and how these impact the experience of domestic abuse victim-survivors who live there.

Previous research has highlighted the importance of a gendered perspective when it comes to understanding and theorising about domestic abuse. However, domestic abuse in rural areas is a complex phenomenon. Whilst the role of unequal gendered power relations is undoubtably significant, there are additional challenges associated with rural areas that make living there more dangerous for victim-survivors of domestic abuse.

Both the theory of intersectionality and Halfacree’s understanding of rural space work together to provide an understanding of this complexity, that is a result of varying, unequal power relations, alongside specific processes which produce a specific kind of rural spatiality that is not cognizant of the everyday experience of domestic abuse victim-survivors. This paper will use empirical material from the PhD to illustrate the use of the theoretical framework.

Author

• Paige Bromley, University of Winchester