Women and violence

The new collection, Women and Violence, The Agency of Victims and Perpetrators, edited by Herjeet Marway and Heather Widdows, considers the agency of women who do violence and have violence done to them. Topics include rape, pornography, prostitutions, suicide bombing and domestic violence. The volume addresses questions of agency, the power of gendered norms, and practical concerns about how to address violence to and by women.

Senior Researcher Robin May Schott contributes an article, "'Not Just Victims…But': Toward a Critical Theory of the Victim". She argues that the concept of victim becomes the site of contestation over political agendas both in feminist anti-rape discourses and in contemporary security discourses. Instead of jettisoning the concept of the victim and turning to an ethics of vulnerability, Schott makes the case for developing a critical theory of the victim. As a critical concept, victim carries the transformative demand to eliminate systemic violence.