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Domestic Violence in the Caribbean: Are Our Solutions Effective?

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Gender and Domestic Violence in the Caribbean

Part of the book series: Gender, Development and Social Change ((GDSC))

Abstract

Domestic violence is referred to variously in the literature as intimate partner violence and/or family violence. It describes incidents and/or patterns of violence, threatening or controlling behaviour, in an intimate relationship, committed by one party against another (Kelly & Westmarland, 2016; Myhill & Johnson, 2015; Powell & Smith, 2011), which in turn, may constitute physical, sexual, economic, emotional and psychological abuse (Fahmy & Abd El Rahman, 2008). The Caribbean region has been described as patriarchal in nature and this has been noted as one of the antecedents of the acceptance of the perpetuation of domestic violence against women, as a societal norm (Hosein, 2018; Le Franc et al., 2008; Sutton & Alvarez in How safe are Caribbean homes for women and children? Attitudes toward intimate partner violence and corporal punishment. Inter-American Development Bank, Washington, DC, 2016). This chapter explores the effect of domestic violence on the victims and examines the available remedies, within the context of the English-speaking Caribbean, of eliminating and/or reducing the incidence of domestic violence.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management Studies‚ Faculty of Social Sciences, University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

    Jacqueline H. Stephenson

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  1. Jacqueline H. Stephenson
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Correspondence to Jacqueline H. Stephenson .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Social Sciences, University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

    Ann Marie Bissessar

  2. Department of Behavioural Sciences, University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

    Camille Huggins

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Stephenson, J.H. (2021). Domestic Violence in the Caribbean: Are Our Solutions Effective?. In: Bissessar, A.M., Huggins, C. (eds) Gender and Domestic Violence in the Caribbean. Gender, Development and Social Change. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73472-5_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73472-5_2

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-73471-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-73472-5

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