A feminist standpoint analysis of women’s shelters: a case in Turkey

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2012
Korkmaz, Miray
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The aim of this thesis is to analyze women’s shelters in the context of the Feminist Standpoint Theory by focusing on a case in Turkey. The majority of the previous studies has not regarded the women’s entire subjective experiences of domestic violence and shelter stay. Rather they present a reductionist picture. In this study, women’s experiences of violence and shelter stay are analyzed and discussed in relation to; their specificities, the shelter structure, and the system shelters are connected in Turkey, from the perspective of Feminist Standpoint Theory. The issue of to what extent empowerment is attainable within the existing structures of institutions is questioned through qualitative method. Participatory observation is the main data gathering method in this study; semi-structured in-depth interviews are also used as additional data gathering source. Interviews and interpersonal relationships with 78 women are analyzed. The interviews aim at providing individual narratives of these women concerning the experience of violence and the process afterwards. In addition, interpersonal communications with the shelter staff are also added to the analysis. It was understood that the subjective experiences of the women are not wholly understandable under a fixed womanhood categorization of gender; they are mostly underestimated in the existing system of structure; and that the constraints specific to each woman’s case combined with the rigid structural practices in the aftermath of violence entrap many women in situations difficult to escape, and the ‘mediating role’ of the structures and individuals are disempowering for the women.
Feminism., Women's shelters, Women, Victims of family violence
http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12614295/index.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/21505
Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis

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Citation Formats
M. Korkmaz, “A feminist standpoint analysis of women’s shelters: a case in Turkey,” M.S. - Master of Science, Middle East Technical University, 2012.
METU IIS - Integrated Information Service open@metu.edu.tr