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Violence against women and depression: recovery through consciousness-raising, resistance and self-expression. Dr Deborah Western Monash University Melbourne, Australia d eborah.western@monash.edu. Background and context. Global estimates of violence against women (WHO 2005 ):
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Violence against women and depression: recovery through consciousness-raising, resistance and self-expression Dr Deborah Western Monash University Melbourne, Australia deborah.western@monash.edu
Background and context • Global estimates of violence against women (WHO 2005): • 16 -59% of women experienced sexual violence from an intimate partner • More than 25% of women surveyed (ex-Japan) had been physically or sexually assaulted at least once since the age of 15 with rates as high as 50% for some countries • “Intimate partner violence has wide ranging and persistent effects on women’s physical and mental health”. (VicHealth, 2004) • Meta-analysis: 2-3-fold increased risk of major depressive disorder & 1.5- 2-fold increased risk of elevated depressive symptoms & postpartum depression among women exposed to intimate partner violence relative to non-exposed women. (Beydoun, Beydoun, Kaufman, Lo and Zonderman, 2012).
Underpinning principles of Women’s Journalling Groups • Journalling: the use of writing and other modes of expression for therapeutic purposes • Range of activities & techniques: life writing, autobiography, expressive and creative writing, sentence starters, lists, clusters/mind maps, unsent letters. • Journalling: more than the content of the journal entries. An individualised process, constructed and refined by each woman to suit her purposes, motivation, needs, circumstances and level of emotional comfort. • Journalling constitutes a form of action for women in understanding and managing their depression
Narratives to explore within journalling activities • Design journalling activities in ways that enable women to engage in processes of consciousness-raising and resistance: • Identifying and expressing emotion • Identifying social stereotypes & expectations • Asking questions • Considering alternatives • Making choices • Reconfiguring identities & social roles • ‘Personal is political’
Consciousness-raising • “… the collective critical reconstitution of the meaning of women’s social experience, as women live through it”. MacKinnon (1989) • A revised version of processes of consciousness-raising, resistance and action, suggests that sharing stories, as occurs in women’s journalling groups, is a form of feminist activism even if it occurs on an individual basis. Sowards and Renegar (2006) • Journalling is a form of action when characterisedby consciousness-raising and resistance
Resistance • The emotions, cognitions and activities that enable women to respond to situations of oppression and unequal power → VAW → depression. • Can involve: • refusal to undertake expected roles and responsibilities • questionningand subversion of accepted ways of living, being and conforming to societal values and discourses (dominant stereotypes; social, gender and structural expectations) • changing one’s sense of self and identity in line with one’s own desires and needs rather than in response to the needs and desires of others.
Women’s thoughts • “For women, that’s so much more inherent, in that we’re told not to have a voice”. (Naomi) • “So conforming, being forced into a container that doesn’t fit our natural shape? I think, yeah, I would say that that, to me fits a lot with knowing my experience, but other people’s too, yeah”. (Jessica) • “All that stuff that you do because you have to and someone needs you to and all that kind of thing”. Jessica • “And that just came up again and up again and up again, so I just really wrote that and I thought, bloody hell! Now I’ve confessed to the world that I’ve got a choice as to whether I do something with it or not”. (Adair) • “Learning to do that (challenge yourself) as part of the process could be valuable. Cause, you’re really best in the end if you can find your own solution. It’s a stronger decision”. (Susan) • “Is validating & gives a voice to some of the feelings I’ve been holding in for a long time. It’s great to hear other people’s thoughts and feelings as well”.
Guidelines for facilitators of Women’s Journalling Groups • Broad understanding of ‘journalling’ • Range of activities, techniques & materials • Opportunities for sharing, reflection & learning (active process) • Safety, trust & confidentiality • Self-expression, emotion, recap, hope & future • Inventive & creative capacity to work with women to operationalise changes they wish to make • Feminist & critical theoretical understandings of women, depression and VAW; group work; CR & resistance
References • Beydoun, Beydoun, Kaufman, Lo and Zonderman, (2012). Intimate partner violence against adult women and its association with major depressive disorder, depressive symptoms and post-partum depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Social Science and Medicine. 1-17 • MacKinnon, C. (1989). Toward a feminist theory of the state. London: Harvard University Press. • Sowards, S. and Renegar, V. (2006). Reconceptualising rhetorical activism in contemporary feminist contexts. The Howard Journal of Communications, 17, 57-74. • VicHealth (2004). The Health Costs of Violence: Measuring the burden of disease caused by intimate partner violence • WHO (2005). Multi-country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence Against Women
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