Elizabeth Stanko - Intimate Intrusions (Routledge Revivals): Womens Experience of Male Violence

Routledge Revivals

Intimate Intrusions

First published in 1985, this book looks at the victimisation of women, focusing on the four main areas of incest, rape, physical violence, and sexual harassment. Elizabeth Stankos work is based on original research and interviews with police forces, victims and others involved. It examines womens experiences of male violence and looks at the reactions of those to whom women complain, including police officers, judges and union officials. The book analyses the decision making process of the criminal justice system and of administrative personnel at the time of publication, and Stanko shows how such institutions can be carriers of a male point of view.

Womens Experience of Male Violence

Elizabeth A. Stanko

First published in 1985

by Routledge & Kegan Paul

This edition first published in 2013 by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada

by Routledge

711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

1985 Elizabeth A. Stanko

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Publishers Note

The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent.

Disclaimer

The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and welcomes correspondence from those they have been unable to contact.

A Library of Congress record exists under ISBN: 84009765

ISBN 13: 978-0-415-82842-0 (hbk)

ISBN 13: 978-0-203-52101-4 (ebk)

Reprinted in 1985

by Routledge & Kegan Paul plc

14 Leicester Square, London WC2H 7PH, England

9 Park Street, Boston, Mass. 02108, USA

464 St Kilda Road, Melbourne,

Victoria 3004, Australia and

Broadway House, Newtown Road,

Henley-on-Thames, Oxon RG9 1EN, England

Set in Linotron Ehrhardt

by Input Typesetting Ltd, London

and printed in Great Britain

by Billing & Sons Ltd, Worcester

Elizabeth A. Stanko 1985

No part of this book may be reproduced in
any form without permission from the publisher,
except for the quotation of brief passages
in criticism

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Stanko, Elizabeth Anne, 1950

Intimate intrusions.

Bibliography: p.

Includes index.

Great Britain. 7. Sex discrimination in criminal justice

HV6250.4.W65S73 1985 362.88 849765

British Library CIP data available.

ISBN 0710200692 (pbk.)

When I tell others I am writing a book on womens experiences of mens threatening, intimidating and violent behaviour, I am struck by the comments I receive. Dont you have a hard time finding women who have had such experiences? some ask. Certainly these things dont happen as much as you are led to believe by alarmist feminists, others add. And tell me, the liberal-minded remark, what are they really like? I think of my women friends, relatives, students, colleagues, acquaintances and I reply, They are just like me. They are all women.

During my adult years, Ive worked as a store clerk, a waitress, a secretary, a researcher, and a university teacher. My experiences in all these positions have taught me that regardless of job category I am, above all else, a woman. As part of my professional training and work over the past ten years, I have examined the American criminal justice system and begun to familiarise myself with the British systems. Ive ridden in American police squad cars, observed American prosecutors making decisions about serious crime, lectured to police in both the US and England, visited American prisons and observed many a court room in America and Britain. The more I observed the criminal justice process, the more I began to see that women were treated differently; after all, women who were complainants, offenders or professionals were just women. Seven years ago, my personal commitment turned to finding ways of assisting women who experienced male violence. The more I worked with raped and battered women, the more I discovered the gap between womens experiences of male violence and the understanding of those experiences to others, and more significantly, to others in positions of power to intervene on womens behalf. Yet it was my own experiences which ultimately clarified my own understanding of this gap. For four years, I was involved in my own struggle against sexual harassment.

I owe a great debt to many people who have been emotionally and intellectually supportive of my work over the years. For their assistance during this particular task, I have to thank: Kitty Britt, Lois Burwell, Mike Collison, Barbara Goodwin, Kathy Hobdell, Janet Holland, Eileen Langbant, Anne Mahoney, Gloria Miraskind, Jill Radford, Andrew Sanders, Carol Smart, Jenny Temkin, Fran Wasoff and Lynn Wolfe. Cynthia Enloe and Jalna Hanmer provided invaluable encouragement and support during all stages; Philippa Brewster just assumed a book would emerge, and I appreciate her confidence. And to Tony Green, who has promised to read the manuscript now it is complete, for his personal support throughout the most frustrating and frightening times during the writing of this book, my special thanks.

The author and publishers are grateful to the following for permission to reproduce copyright material: extracts from Kiss Daddy Goodnight, copyright Louise Armstrong, 1978, published by E. P. Dutton Publishers Inc.; material from Conspiracy of Silence, copyright 1978 by Sandra Butler, published by Volcano Press, 1982, San Francisco, CA, USA; material from Battered Wives, copyright 1976, 1981 by Del Martin, published by Volcano Press, San Francisco, CA, USA; The confusion between sex and rape, letter to the editor, 22 October 1979, reprinted with permission of the