Application of Intersectional Analysis to Data on Domestic Violence Against Aboriginal Women Living in Remote Communities in the Province of Quebec

Abstract

This article discusses the theoretical and analytical intersectionality approach, focusing on its application to an analysis of empirical data obtained from qualitative research into domestic violence against Aboriginal women living in four remote communities in Quebec. Nonprobability sampling was used to select and recruit 40 participants. Four focus groups took place, one in each of the participating communities. The qualitative data were subjected to a thematic content analysis emphasizing the feminist intersectionality perspective. The findings revealed the existence of different domination systems, as well as oppressive actions that interlock and interact at multiple and shifting levels, all of which shape and contribute to the reproduction of domestic violence among women living in remote Aboriginal communities. The intersectionality approach highlighted the important role played not only by race, gender, and social class, but also by the historical context and the degree of geographic isolation in the domestic violence experienced by Aboriginal women living in remote communities. All these social systems increase the vulnerability of Aboriginal women to domestic violence. This paper is one of the few scholarly attempts made so far to apply intersectional analysis to empirical data on the phenomenon of domestic violence as experienced by Aboriginal women.