Den som slår kvinnor - en textstudie av våld i nära relationer

Sammanfattning: In 1938 domestic violence was discussed in Swedish politics for the first time. The issue was rejected and considered as a private question related to the marriage, more specifically as some fuss between the husband and his wife. Since then, the domestic violence has received several explanations. Even though various research and statistics has formulated the violence against women as an issue of gender and power-relations, the main explanation is that the violence is a matter of individual nature. This paper is focusing on public policies’ approach to domestic violence. The representation of the problems is defined with Carole Bacchi’s method "What's the problem represented to be?”. The study is a critical analysis with focus on gender-structures and power. My assumptions is based on a feminist stance that we live in a patriarchy and there is a prevailing gender-power-structure that makes men as a group privileged towards women. My thesis will show that the studied policy consider the perpetrator as abnormal and the battered women as responsible to stop the violence. The solutions to the problems are explained through solving the perpetrators individual problems and helping the battered women with strategies to exit the violent relationship.