Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Agency, Resistance and the Non-'Ideal' Victim: How women deal with sexual violence

Roberts, N.; Donovan, C.; Durey, M.

Agency, Resistance and the Non-'Ideal' Victim: How women deal with sexual violence Thumbnail


Authors

N. Roberts

M. Durey



Abstract

Many undergraduate students in the UK fall into age groups particularly at risk from interpersonal violence. Recent evidence suggests a range of interpersonal violence is part of the university experience for a significant number of students. In this article, we report on the findings of an online survey of male and female students administered at a university in the north of England in 2016 exploring experiences of interpersonal violence during their time as a student. Focusing on the qualitative responses, 75 respondents, mostly women, wrote about their experiences of sexual violence. In presenting women’s accounts, we challenge the construction of the ‘ideal victim’ who is viewed as weak, passive and without agency or culpability (Christie, 1986). Women adopt a range of strategies to actively resist men’s sexual violence. In doing so, they challenge and problematise perpetrators’ behaviours particularly tropes that communicate and forefront the heterosexual dating model of courtship. These findings raise implications for women’s strategies of resistance to be viewed as examples of social change where victim-blaming is challenged, perpetrator blaming is promoted and femininity/victims are reconstructed as agentic. Universities must educate students about sexual violence, dating and intimacy, as well as provide support for victims of sexual violence.

Citation

Roberts, N., Donovan, C., & Durey, M. (2019). Agency, Resistance and the Non-'Ideal' Victim: How women deal with sexual violence. Journal of Gender-Based Violence, 3(3), 323-338. https://doi.org/10.1332/239868019x15633766459801

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jun 5, 2019
Online Publication Date Oct 1, 2019
Publication Date Oct 31, 2019
Deposit Date Jun 12, 2019
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Journal of Gender-Based Violence
Print ISSN 2398-6808
Publisher Bristol University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 3
Issue 3
Pages 323-338
DOI https://doi.org/10.1332/239868019x15633766459801

Files

Accepted Journal Article (1.1 Mb)
PDF

Copyright Statement
This is a post-peer-review pre-copy edited version of an article published in Journal of Gender Based Violence. The definitive publisher-authenticated version Roberts, N., Donovan, C. & Durey, M. (2019). 'Agency, Resistance and the Non-'Ideal' Victim: How women deal with sexual violence'. Journal of Gender Based Violence 3(3): 323-338 is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1332/239868019X15633766459801




You might also like



Downloadable Citations