Excavating feminist knowledges and practices in the field of sexual assault service provision: An Australian case study

Abstract

This article engages with concerns in feminist scholarship about a decline of feminist influence in contemporary efforts to prevent, challenge and mitigate the harms of sexual violence. A key focus of these concerns has centred on co-option into the conservative regulatory apparatus of the state and concomitant depoliticisation of an issue that was a key mobilising force of the second-wave women's movement. Drawing on empirical research from a study undertaken in a local Australian field of sexual assault service provision, I argue that the narrative of feminist decline in the sector is oversimplified; rather, I have found that there is an almost naturalised relationship between feminism and the field of sexual assault service provision. In this article, I explore the core feminist epistemologies that are embedded in the structure of sexual assault services and enacted through worker practices.