Battered Women, Catastrophe, and the Context of Safety after Hurricane Katrina

Abstract

Feminist practice, activism, and scholarship have played critical roles in bringing the problems of domestic violence to light, shaping legislation to empower victims and championing improvement in advocacy and outreach. Yet many women and children not only continue to suffer from this form of personal violence, but suffer doubly when large-scale catastrophes strike—even as large numbers of volunteers turn out to respond, donors overwhelm local communities, and people open their hearts to those in need. This paper examines domestic violence and disaster in post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans while concomitantly contributing to the literature that demonstrates ways in which feminist orientations can make vital differences in disaster contexts. We show that by listening to the voices of victims in postdisaster contexts, new insights can be gleaned as to how to make all women safer during disasters. Domestic-violence survivors often experienced heightened levels of violence during the hurricane and its aftermath; however, even in that difficult context, some women made the choice to leave abusive situations and advocates responded in new ways to help these women meet their unique needs.