Gender Politics in Social and Legal Constructions of Self- Defense: ROW Planning Grant

在过去二十年中，对普遍存在的对妇女的暴力行为进行了广泛研究。公民通常支持个人保护自己免受暴力侵害的权利，但这种支持似乎在一些女性受害者（如被殴打的妇女）身上崩溃了，因为她们告发了殴打她们的人。大多数关于强奸和殴打的研究都没有涉及女性受害者的反击问题，尤其是导致杀人的反抗。近年来，对影响妇女在遭受身体和/或性虐待后采取自卫行为观念的历史和法律原因进行了一些探索。然而，问题是复杂的，需要进一步探索。这项妇女计划研究机会基金将允许这位年轻的研究者在开展关于自卫中的性别政治的全面项目之前进行初步研究。该项目将是第一个系统地审查在妇女遭受身体和性虐待的情况下自卫的社会结构的项目。试点项目将包括开放式访谈，向受害者、法官、检察官和辩护律师询问他们在各种情况下对自卫的看法。访谈的结果将用于构建一套将在一个全面的项目中使用的小插曲。这项研究将为我们理解对自卫权的信仰是否因社会类别而异提供有价值的见解。关于赋予男性和女性以及黑人和白人女性的自卫权是否不同的问题具有重要的理论意义。此外，这种研究将对那些对与妇女免受暴力的自卫有关的法律改革感兴趣的人具有实际意义。

During the past two decades, the prevalence of violence against women has been extensively studied. Citizens generally support the right of individuals to defend themselves against violence, but this support appears to break down for some women victims such as battered women who turn on their batterers. The majority of the research about rape and battering has not dealt with the issue of female victims fighting back, especially fighting that results in homicide. Recently, some explorations have been made on the historical and legal reasons affecting the perception of women acting in self-defense following physical and/or sexual abuse. However, the issues are complex and in need of further exploration. This Research Opportunities for Women Planning Grant will allow this young investigator to undertake preliminary research prior to developing a full scale project on gender politics in self-defense. The project will be the first to examine systematically the social constructions of self-defense in situations where women are physically and sexually abused. The pilot project will include open-ended interviews that ask victims, judges, prosecutors, and defense lawyers about their perceptions of self-defense in various situations. The results of the interviews will be used to construct a set of vignettes that will be used in a full-scale project. This research will add valuable insight to our understanding of whether belief in rights to self-defense varies by social categories. Questions relating to whether the right to self- defense is granted differently to men and women and to black and white women have great theoretical significance. Also, such research will be of practical significance to those interested in legal reforms related to the self-defense of women against violence.