RESEARCH INTERESTS
My primary research interest involves the rising rates of femicide worldwide. While femicide can be broken into various sects, such as honor killings, I will be focusing on femicide committed by intimate partners. Prior research confirms that domestic violence correlates with a woman’s likelihood of being murdered by her partner. [1] More specifically however, I am interested in the relationship between domestic violence and the affect a state’s support programs have on decreasing the state’s femicide rate. I plan to research how social programs like governmental resources for victims of violence or non-governmental aid allow women to gain the support they need to put an end to domestic violence. [2]
My research questions ask how survivors of domestic abuse are supported in their respective state:
- Is there stigmatism against abuse?
- Are survivors of domestic violence viewed as victims of a crime, or are they assigned blame?
- What aid programs are available and how do they affect the rate of femicide?
- Are social programs and aid effective methods in keeping women safe?
A large amount of femicide research has been conducted in sub-Saharan Africa, specifically in Ethiopia, Somalia, and South Africa. One study, “Domestic Violence as a ‘Class Thing’: Perspectives from a South African Township,” measured the effect of South African laws on the state’s femicide rate. [3] In 1999 one woman was killed by an intimate partner every six hours. Ten years after implementing the Domestic Violence Act 116, the South African femicide rate only marginally declined. Today, one woman is killed every eight hours by her partner. [4]
This research study was the first piece of literature that piqued my interest in this subject. The slight decrease from a woman being killed every six to every eight hours after the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act intrigues me and thus I pose myself the following questions:
- Are laws not strong enough to protect survivors of domestic abuse and to deter further violence?
- How then can social programs best be used to combat femicide?
A challenge my research poses is the way in which I will address my main research proposition (researching if social programs are effective in stopping domestic abuse and therefore preventing femicide) without broadening my research topic.
NOTES
[1] Mamo, C., Bianco, S., Dalmasso, M., Girotto, M., Mondo, L., and Penasso, M. “Are Emergency Department Admissions in the Past Two Years Predictors of Femicide? Results from a Case–control Study in Italy.” Journal of Family Violence 30(7): pp. 853–858. 2015.
[2] Povoledo, E. “A Call for Aid, Not Laws, to Help Women in Italy.” The New York Times. 2013.
[3] Mazibuko, N. C., & Umejesi, I. “Domestic violence as a ‘class thing’: Perspectives from a South African Township.” Gender & Behaviour, 13(1), pp. 6584-6593. 2015.
[4] Ibid.
I find your general topic area quite interesting and definitely one I have considered researching myself at some point. You seem to have a good understanding of the background of the topic and have some clear questions.
One thing I would consider is trying to find out how many cases of femicide actually get reported in the region or country you end up studying. It is no secret that unfortunately, the majority of assault cases, especially domestic violence cases, go unreported. Therefore, it could be worthwhile to look into how many femicide victims had reported their partner for being abusive, and whether you can find a pattern in behavior.
When you are studying the effects of the laws, you could possibly try to find out how strictly the laws are enforced. This can help you narrow down the possible root of the problem into either legal (lack of policies), application (lack of enforcement), or even social (lack of concern by the people).
Lastly, although this may be a bit broader than what you intend on researching, I believe an interesting comparative study could be comparing the data of femicides in arranged marriages versus what we consider to be traditional marriages. This can be a good path to follow if you decide to focus on the cultural aspect of the issue.
It seems like there are many ways you can go about your research and I’m excited to see what you will find out in the end.
You are off to a good start here Theodora with some good thoughts on the potential directions that your research might take. The initial reading into scholarly literature that you are doing is good, and I would encourage you to keep reading scholarship. Investigating scholarship on this broad/general topic area is a good next step since identifying the debates among scholars (debates about what we understand / what we don’t understand) is one important part of identifying your own specific research puzzle. As you think about the puzzle itself I would suggest that you think more about explanatory (“why…?” “what explains…?”) questions. Ultimately you are working towards a good “why…?” or “what explains…?” question that points to something that you want to explain. The “are…?” and “is…?” questions that you note in your post are good background research questions, but those are also questions that you can work on answering now so that you can identify that explanatory puzzle. I look forward to seeing how the research develops as you continue your work!
Hi Theodora,
It is clear that you have some solid background knowledge driving your interests in this incredibly important topic. I could see your research taking on a small-n comparison of the laws and social programs in place in a couple different countries and how those affect the rates of femicide. As Lori noted in her comment, the laws may be in place but might not be strictly enforced. This is something that could potentially be a roadblock in your research that you will have to find a way to address.
As you noted in your comment on my post, both of our topics brush with the dilemma of cultural norms impacting women’s lives in negative ways. I think that an interesting path you might consider going down would be to look at how traditional ideas of masculinity and gender roles play a part in femicide in different parts of the world–and how social programs could address those. There may also be some interesting psychological factors at play and I would be curious to see if previous scholarship has addressed that and/or if the social programs are designed with that in mind. Your research could take you in a multitude of ways and I am curious to see what you find!