Violence against women and depression: recovery through consciousness-raising, resistance and self-expression Dr Deborah Western Monash University Melbourne, Australia

Background and context Global estimates of violence against women (WHO 2005): o % of women experienced sexual violence from an intimate partner o More than 25% of women surveyed (ex-Japan) had been physically or sexually assaulted at least once since the age of 15 with rates as high as 50% for some countries “Intimate partner violence has wide ranging and persistent effects on women’s physical and mental health”. (VicHealth, 2004) Meta-analysis: 2-3-fold increased risk of major depressive disorder & fold increased risk of elevated depressive symptoms & postpartum depression among women exposed to intimate partner violence relative to non-exposed women. (Beydoun, Beydoun, Kaufman, Lo and Zonderman, 2012).

Underpinning principles of Women’s Journalling Groups Journalling: the use of writing and other modes of expression for therapeutic purposes Range of activities & techniques: life writing, autobiography, expressive and creative writing, sentence starters, lists, clusters/mind maps, unsent letters. Journalling: more than the content of the journal entries. An individualised process, constructed and refined by each woman to suit her purposes, motivation, needs, circumstances and level of emotional comfort. Journalling constitutes a form of action for women in understanding and managing their depression

Narratives to explore within journalling activities Design journalling activities in ways that enable women to engage in processes of consciousness- raising and resistance: o Identifying and expressing emotion o Identifying social stereotypes & expectations o Asking questions o Considering alternatives o Making choices o Reconfiguring identities & social roles o ‘Personal is political’

Consciousness-raising “… the collective critical reconstitution of the meaning of women’s social experience, as women live through it”. MacKinnon (1989) A revised version of processes of consciousness- raising, resistance and action, suggests that sharing stories, as occurs in women’s journalling groups, is a form of feminist activism even if it occurs on an individual basis. Sowards and Renegar (2006) Journalling is a form of action when characterised by consciousness-raising and resistance

Resistance The emotions, cognitions and activities that enable women to respond to situations of oppression and unequal power → VAW → depression. Can involve: o refusal to undertake expected roles and responsibilities o questionning and subversion of accepted ways of living, being and conforming to societal values and discourses (dominant stereotypes; social, gender and structural expectations) o changing one’s sense of self and identity in line with one’s own desires and needs rather than in response to the needs and desires of others.

Women’s thoughts “For women, that’s so much more inherent, in that we’re told not to have a voice”. (Naomi) “So conforming, being forced into a container that doesn’t fit our natural shape? I think, yeah, I would say that that, to me fits a lot with knowing my experience, but other people’s too, yeah”. (Jessica) “All that stuff that you do because you have to and someone needs you to and all that kind of thing”. Jessica “And that just came up again and up again and up again, so I just really wrote that and I thought, bloody hell! Now I’ve confessed to the world that I’ve got a choice as to whether I do something with it or not”. (Adair) “Learning to do that (challenge yourself) as part of the process could be valuable. Cause, you’re really best in the end if you can find your own solution. It’s a stronger decision”. (Susan) “Is validating & gives a voice to some of the feelings I’ve been holding in for a long time. It’s great to hear other people’s thoughts and feelings as well”.

Guidelines for facilitators of Women’s Journalling Groups Broad understanding of ‘journalling’ Range of activities, techniques & materials Opportunities for sharing, reflection & learning (active process) Safety, trust & confidentiality Self-expression, emotion, recap, hope & future Inventive & creative capacity to work with women to operationalise changes they wish to make Feminist & critical theoretical understandings of women, depression and VAW; group work; CR & resistance

References Beydoun, Beydoun, Kaufman, Lo and Zonderman, (2012). Intimate partner violence against adult women and its association with major depressive disorder, depressive symptoms and post-partum depression: A systematic review and meta- analysis. Social Science and Medicine MacKinnon, C. (1989). Toward a feminist theory of the state. London: Harvard University Press. Sowards, S. and Renegar, V. (2006). Reconceptualising rhetorical activism in contemporary feminist contexts. The Howard Journal of Communications, 17, VicHealth (2004). The Health Costs of Violence: Measuring the burden of disease caused by intimate partner violence WHO (2005). Multi-country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence Against Women

MELBOURNE WELCOMES YOU TO THE JOINT WORLD CONFERENCE ON SOCIAL WORK, EDUCATION AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT JULY 9 –