Where is the Voice of Feminism in Research on Emotional Abuse?

PSYCHOLOGICALLY abused women; VIOLENCE; PSYCHOLOGICAL abuse; PSYCHOTHERAPY; FEMINIST therapy; EMOTIONAL deprivation; FEMINISM; WOMEN'S rights; HUMAN rights

Women's Issues; Human Rights

Research on women's experience of emotional abuse has grown considerably in recent years. However, the research thus far suffers from a number of blind-spots and biases. These include a disregard for social and cultural influences, a narrow perspective on the effects of intimate violence, and a lack of integration of theoretical and practical considerations. I contend that such biases can be remedied in part by looking to feminist scholars in an attempt to derive an integrative and socially informed framework to guide research, theory, and practice focused on women who have suffered emotional abuse. Drawing upon interviews that I have conducted with women who have been emotionally abused by their live-in partners, I explore the role that feminist theory can play in framing and contextualizing scholarly work on emotional abuse.