engleski

Domestic Violence and Gender – Professional Experience, Motivation and Gender Prejudice of Female Professionals in Croatia

Although significant legal dimensions of equality have been achieved, there are still persistent social dimensions of the inequality of women. In an attempt to examine some reasons for this, we aimed to look into the personal experience, views and stories of women working in courts (judges), social services and the police force who professionally deal or have dealt with cases of domestic violence. Our analysis is based on semi–structured dialogic interviews as in–depth in–person conversations, reached based on chain– referral or snowball sampling. This qualitative approach does not provide a basis for generalization to the population, but is an important complement to quantitative approaches if one wishes to reduce reification and provide a thick description of the situation in the field. Thematic and narrative analysis of the data gathered in interviews (n = 21) is conducted, with the help of NVivo software. The results focus on the professional experience of tackling domestic violence cases, gender–based prejudice in the profession and the motivation of our interlocutors, enabling us to map relevant topics and concerns. The results suggest there are culturally specific resistance strategies in both women’s conduct and the reaction of the community. These strategies rely on and negotiate with traditional family arrangements, which might foster social cohesion and safety, particularly in predominantly rural regions. A theoretical background is found at the intersections of sociological and criminological theory where gender is mainstreamed into traditional perspectives.

domestic violence, gender, interviews, safety, women, Croatia

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