Abstract
Abstract The article is based on a qualitative field study of how justice (in its wider sense) is understood by practitioners and religious leaders from Judaism, Islam and Christianity, who work with victims of domestic violence and abuse. The article focuses on two key questions: a) how do practitioners from the three faith communities conceptualise justice in relation to domestic violence and abuse (DVA)? b) how far do these practitioners believe that victims of DVA have access to justice within their respective faith communities? The findings suggest that the concept of structural spiritual abuse should be given more attention by the DVA literature and also by those who are working with women of faith.
Highlights
Domestic violence and abuse (DVA) has been reported to affect one in four women in the UK (ONS 2016)
Of interest here is how DVA is perceived and challenged within faith communities: we focus on the perceptions of Muslim, Jewish and Catholic practitioners who come into contact with victims of DVA, including within the administration of religious tribunals, courts and councils which preside over issues of marriage and divorce
Some of the principle topics that were included in the interview schedule were: the participants’ understandings of DVA; justice within the context of DVA; why women choose to use unofficial community mechanisms (Sharia councils, Beth Din, local church) to seek justice; the advantages and disadvantages of using these mechanisms and how they deal with DVA cases
Summary
Domestic violence and abuse (DVA) has been reported to affect one in four women in the UK (ONS 2016). It is defined by the Home Office (2013) as: An incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those ages 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality. Of interest here is how DVA is perceived and challenged within faith communities: we focus on the perceptions of Muslim, Jewish and Catholic practitioners who come into contact with victims of DVA, including within the administration of religious tribunals, courts and councils which preside over issues of marriage and divorce. Men can experience DVA (Hester et al 2017), and faith practitioners may deal with men as both perpetrators and victims, in this paper we are concerned with DVA directed by men to women
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