Book Review: Women, Intimate Partner Violence, and the Law
| Author | Jenny Korkodeilou |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/09646639221124399 |
| Published date | 01 February 2023 |
| Date | 01 February 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
McFalone K (2021) # IBelieveHer: Representations of rape culture in Northern Ireland’s media sur-
rounding the 2018 Ulster Rugby Rape Trial. International Journal of media & Cultural Politics
17(3): 291–314.
HEATHER DOUGLAS, Women, Intimate Partner Violence, and the Law. N.Y: Oxford University
Press, 2021, pp. 326, ISBN: 9780190071783, £41.99 (hbk).
‘I will make your death look like an accident’,‘your body can end up in a barrel’,‘you
know that I am going to get you eventually’: these are some of the threats uttered by
abusers as shared by intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors in Heather Douglas’
book. In her book Douglas makes a consistent and commendable effort to convey a
clear message: IPV consists of a wide range of different types of abuse (including phys-
ical) and that, while coercive control is a core component of IPV dynamics, it is often
unacknowledged, missed or downplayed by key criminal justice actors, stakeholders
and agencies (see Barlow and Walklate, 2021). Similar experiences of interpersonal
abuse have been previously documented in stalking-related research, in the UK and
USA, with victims articulating terror, disrespect, barriers and trauma(s) during their
pursuit, their engagement with the law and criminal justice system, how these experiences
compounded trauma and significantly impacted their journey to recovery (Brewster,
2003; Korkodeilou, 2020). These shared similarities arguably demonstrate the problem-
atic nature of almost exclusively addressing domestic and interpersonal violence through
traditional courtroom models, gendered and patriarchal socio-legal order and (adversar-
ial) criminal justice system channels (Goodmark, 2018). This is a point that could
have been more strongly illustrated and supported in the book, especially given the socio-
legal background of the author. Having said that though, overall, Douglas provides a
detailed, careful, informed analysis of women’s/IPV survivors’experiences with the
law in their help-seeking attempts to escape abusive relationships and ensure their
safety and/or the safety of their children. It is evident throughout that she is genuinely
interested in the topic: she engages with multi-layered, challenging histories of abuse
with attention, professional rigour and integrity. An experienced legal scholar in the
field, Douglas competently examines key themes emerging from IPV survivors’
accounts, linking them to legislation, literature and intertwining them with women’s
own words. And this is indeed the key strength of the book: the honesty and respect
with which she handles women’s accounts, staying true to their interpretations and
thus delivering a monograph true to its purpose.
The book is structured into 10 chapters which are based on the main themes emerging
from Douglas’research study. In Chapter 1 (‘Introduction’) she explains the rationale and
content of the study on which the book is based and problematises themes such as the
conditionality of separation, the power dynamics underpinning IPV, the re-traumatising
experience of protracted litigation, the use of legal processes by perpetrators as another
vehicle for extending abuse, and the tenacity and resistance displayed by women
against all odds, and despite the hostile, combative, and traumatising nature of the adver-
sarial legal processes.
Book Reviews 169
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