Structural Problems Demand Structural Solutions: Addressing Domestic and Family Violence

Abstract

Despite the global recognition of domestic and family violence (DFV) as an outcome of unequal power relations between men and women, dominant frameworks for addressing DFV do not target the structural nature of the problem. Drawing on research conducted in partnership with the Federation of Community Legal Centres in Australia, we argue that a distinction needs to be made between what is genuinely structural change and what is system reform. Using intersectional feminist and decolonial theory and praxis, we reflect on what a structural approach to DFV could look like: one that confronts and actively tries to change the structural conditions that give rise to women's individual and collective vulnerability and victimization.