Gender matters in intimate partner violence

Abstract

This chapter addresses the gender symmetry debate concerning intimate partner violence (IPV). I argue that: (1) gender matters at the individual psyche, micro-everyday, institutional, structural, and cultural levels of peoples' lives; (2) gender symmetry arguments have been captured by individualistic and binary models of gender that conflate sex and gender, ignore theoretical analyses of both gender and violence and neglect the importance of intersectionality; and (3) symmetry arguments fail to incorporate sustained analyses of forms of IPV that are uniquely gendered. I include in this category rape and sexual coercion, reproductive control, and violence during pregnancy, as well as behaviors that are highly correlated with lethal outcomes, such as strangulation. I illustrate my argument about the importance of intersectionality with a brief case profile of a battered man. I also review narratives from women and men who have been subjected to coercive control and IPV and US national level data reflecting the ongoing significance of gender in people's lives. I conclude with recommendations for research and policy that take seriously the gendered nature of intimate partner violence.