Critical Issues on Violence Against Women ─ International Perspectives and Promising Strategies

Violence against women is a global problem and despite a wealth of knowledge and inspiring action around the globe, it continues unabated. Bringing together the very best in international scholarship with a rich variety of pedagogical features, this innovative new textbook on violence against women is specifically designed to provoke debate, interrogate assumptions and encourage critical thinking about this global issue.

This book presents a range of critical reflections on the strengths and limitations of responses to violent crimes against women and how they have evolved to date. Each section is introduced with an overview of a particular topic by an expert in the field, followed by thoughtful reflections by researchers, practitioners, or advocates that incorporate new research findings, a new initiative, or innovative ideas for reform. Themes covered include:

• advances in measurement of violence against women,
• justice system responses to intimate partner violence and sexual assault,
• victim crisis and advocacy,
• behaviour change programs for abusers, and
• prevention of violence against women.

Each section is supplemented with learning objectives, critical thinking questions and lists of further reading and resources to encourage discussion and to help students to appreciate the contested nature of policy. The innovative structure will bring debate alive in the classroom or seminar and makes the book perfect reading for courses on violence against women, gender and crime, victimology, and crime prevention.

Holly Johnson’s primary research interests are the effectiveness of criminal justice and societal responses to violence against women, primary prevention, and improving the measurement of violence and other gendered experiences. She was principal investigator on Canada’s first national survey on violence against women, co-investigator of the International Violence Against Women Survey, and is the author of numerous publications in this area.

Bonnie Fisher’s primary research focuses on the measurement and predictors of violence against college women, recurrent victimization, and the evaluation of bystander interventions. She has authored numerous publications spanning the field of victimology, with emphasis on measurement issues, and recently served on the National Academy of Sciences Panel on Measuring Rape and Sexual Assault.

Veronique Jaquier has trained in psychology and criminology in Switzerland and the United States. Her program of research examines the interrelations of women's victimization and use of aggression as it impacts mental health and risk behaviors, with emphasis on understanding how criminal justice and social institutions impact life trajectories.