Introduction: Anthropological Encounters with Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

Anthropological encounters with intimate partner violence (IPV) are common experiences, in part because the profession involves becoming integrated into people's lives and the unfolding of everyday occurrences. Even anthropologists whose research does not focus on various forms of IPV find themselves engaging—often uncomfortably—with the topic. The goal of this issue is to move encounters with intimate partner violence out of the shadows of our research experiences, the backs of our minds, and the corners of the anthropological literature, and into the spotlight. Thus this issue is designed for those who do not study IPV as much as it is for those who do.