Gewalt gegen Frauen: ein Überblick deutschsprachiger Forschung

Abstract

Public awareness of and theory about violence against women emerged in the wake of the international social movement of the1970s, and there is now a considerable body of empirical research. But results should not be generalized across countries without examination of context. Research in the German-speaking region has characteristic traits. It has been closely linked to practical efforts to address violence feminist initiatives supporting women, and sexual and domestic violence are both generally understood to be gender issues. Until recently, all larger data sets were collected in the course of state-funded evaluation of new projects and programs. In addition, there are a substantial number of qualitative studies whose research designs and interpretations were generated by integrating feminism with strong traditions within German theory, such as the Frankfurt school of critical theory, the process sociology of Norbert Elias, or narrative biographical studies. Prevalence studies are beginning and data from nearby European countries are promising. This paper sketches the descriptive and analytic approaches taken, presents some of the findings of quantitative and qualitative German research, and discusses specific deficits in the overall research picture.