No Longer A Footnote: Understanding The Perspectives Of Black Women Survivors Of Intimate Partner Violence In The Criminal Law System Through Sistering Methodology

Abstract

The voices and experiences of Black women survivors of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) have historically been ignored or placed in a footnote. IPV cuts across race, class, religion, etcetera yet, it is often examined through an essentialist lens. The dominant discourse regarding IPV excises many women’s experiences, including Black women’s, centres white women’s experiences, attributes gender inequality (sexism and patriarchy) as its primary source, and ignores the significance of intersecting oppressions. As white women are not plagued by the perpetuation of structural and institutional racism that is the bedrock of the criminal law system (CLS), it is no surprise that many demand(ed) justice for IPV by placing their confidence in the CLS. Though noteworthy criminal law reforms and responses were implemented, the reliance on the CLS failed to appreciate the potential consequences of such an alliance for Black women. Recognizing the potential consequences and the neglect of the voices of Black women survivors of IPV, the purpose of this project is three-fold. First, and perhaps most importantly, the project provides a platform to highlight and amplify the voices of ten Black women survivors of IPV through the lens of Intersectionality; it renders them and their experiences visible. By doing so, epistemic injustice is confronted, as Black women are producing knowledge of their own experiences – no longer ignored, footnoted, or categorized under the universalized rubric of “women”. Second, the project engenders insight into some of the factors that resonated with heterosexual Black women survivors of IPV, who were abused by Black men, when deciding whether to involve the CLS in their IPV situations and captures their notions of what constitutes justice. Third, embarking on this project enabled me to conduct research differently, through a decolonial lens. Relying on the theory of Black Feminist Thought and borrowing from the methodological approach known as Endarkened Feminist Epistemology (EFE), I created a methodology, Sistering, that informed how I engaged with Black women as co-participants for this project.