The Woman in the Violence

M. Cristina Alcalde

Description

The Woman in the Violence draws on fieldwork conducted in Lima, Peru, one of the largest cities in Latin America, and the life stories of dozens of women to examine multiple forms of violence and how it interrelates in their lives. Gender-based violence continues to blight the landscape of South American urban centers, and this book unravels the personal experiences of those impacted. Alcalde explores the everyday lives of these women before, during, and after an abusive relationship to explore the impact of, and response to, structural, institutional, and interpersonal violence.

Focusing on the experiences of women who are predominantly poor, nonwhite, rural-to-urban migrants with little or no formal education, The Woman in the Violence addresses a range of serious concerns. What types of violence do women experience at different stages in their lives? Which identities and roles are manifested throughout their lives, and do some of these increase their vulnerability to different forms of violence? What strategies do women employ to gain some power and control in these situations, and how can we conceptualize these strategies?

In examining these questions, The Woman in the Violence contributes to our understanding of violence, gender, race, resistance, and urbanism as it exposes and analyzes systemic violence against women. The everyday forms of resistance these women employ provide significant insight for students, scholars, and health professionals.

Sujets

• Women's Studies
• Latin American Studies
• Public Health
• Human Rights
• Histoire
• South America
• Latin America
• Anthropology
• Health
• History

Informations

• Publié par: Vanderbilt University Press
• Date de parution: 10 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780826517319
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

THE WOMAN  IN THE VIOLENCE

Gender, Pover ty, and Resistance in Peru

M. Cristina Alcalde

THE WOMAN IN THE VIOLENCE

WOMAN THE IN THE VIOLENCE

Gender, Poverty, and Resistance in Peru

M. Cristina Alcalde

Vanderbilt University Press nashville

© 2010 by Vanderbilt University Press Nashville, Tennessee 37235 All rights reserved First printing 2010

This book is printed on acid-free paper made from 30% post-consumer recycled content. Manufactured in the United States of America

Book design and typesetting by Judy Gilats

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Alcalde, M. Cristina The woman in the violence : gender, poverty, and resistance in Peru / M. Cristina Alcalde. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8265-1729-6 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Women—Violence against—Peru—Lima. 2. Poor women—Peru—Lima. I. Title. HV6250.4.W65A499 2010 362.82'92098525—dc22 2010004902

Para Joe y para nuestros hijos, Santiago y Emilio,

y para mis padres, Pilar y Xavier, con amor,

gratitud, y esperanza

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

 part iº Violence and Everyday Resistance  in Women’s Lives 1.  Life in the City: Lima, Its Possibilities, and Its Discontents 2  Reproducing Structural Inequalities within Intimate Relationships 3  Women’s Bodies, Sexuality, and Reproduction

 part iiº Leaving the Relationship 4  Families, Children, and Mothering 5  Resources (Un)Available: Institutional Aid and Institutional Violence

partiiiº Rebuilding Lives 6  The Everyday Experiences and Dangers of Starting Over

Conclusions Representing the Woman in the Violence and Approaching Violence in Women’s Lives

Notes References Index

ix 1

45

74

100

123

153

189

217

225 239 255

Acknowledgments

ºmy deepest gratitudegoes to the women whose stories appear in this book, for sharing parts of their lives with me and providing me with the opportunity and trust to examine their experiences. Each of the women I met in Lima taught me something important about survival during especially difficult moments in her life, and I am forever grateful for that. I am also grateful to the shelter workers and other service providers who took the time to explain how things worked and discuss their experiences with me. The Centro de la Mujer Peruana Flora Tristán and the Peru section of the Liga Internacional de Mujeres pro Paz y Libertad (LIMPAL Perú) played a vital role in allowing me to conduct this research by providing me with the opportunity to affiliate with them and assisting me during 1 my research. I am especially grateful to Ana Güezmes at Flora Tristán for meeting with me during a preliminary research trip and discussing with me the possibility of focusing on domestic violence in Lima. I am also very grateful to Miryan Quispe at LIMPAL Perú for her early and ongoing assistance and sup- port, and for her friendship. Summer travel grants from Indiana University’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and Department of An- thropology provided me with the time and funding to conduct preliminary research. A Fulbright Institute of International Edu- cation (IIE) grant and a summer Foreign Language and Areas Studies (FLAS) award supported me during the bulk of my field research in Lima, and a John Edwards Fellowship from Indiana University and a grant in women’s studies from the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation supported my writing. At Indiana University, Gracia Clark, Rick Wilk, Anya Royce, Ar- lene Diaz, and Helen Gremillion provided important feedback at different stages of the initial writing process. I am especially grateful to Gracia Clark and Rick Wilk for their encouragement. I am also grateful to Anne Pyburn and Jeff Gould for their early support of my projects and career.

ix