%0 Journal Article
%T Leaving violent men: A study of women¡¯s experiences of separation in Victoria, Australia
%A Crystal Bruton
%A Danielle Tyson
%J Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology
%@ 1837-9273
%D 2018
%R 10.1177/0004865817746711
%X Despite decades of feminist efforts to educate the community about, and improve responses to, domestic violence, public attitudes towards domestic violence continue to misunderstand women¡¯s experiences of violence. Underlying such responses is the stock standard question, ¡®Why doesn¡¯t she leave?¡¯ This question points to a lack of understanding about the impacts and threat of violence from an abusive partner on women¡¯s decisions to leave the relationship. Moreover, it places sole responsibility for ending the relationship squarely upon women, assuming women are presented with numerous opportunities to leave a violent relationship and erroneously assumes the violence will cease once they do leave. This study explores women¡¯s experiences of separating from an abusive, male partner through women¡¯s narratives (n£¿=£¿12) in Victoria, Australia. Findings reveal that fear was a complex influencing factor impacting upon women¡¯s decision-making throughout the leaving process. The findings show that women seek to exercise agency within the context of their abusers¡¯ coercively controlling tactics by strategically attempting to manage the constraints placed on their decision-making and partner¡¯s repeated attempts to reassert dominance and control
%K Agency
%K coercive control
%K domestic violence
%K separation
%K women
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0004865817746711