Towards Feminist Trauma-informed Perspectives on Domestic Abuse: Lessons from Rural England

Dominant narratives of psychological trauma are shaped by clinical frameworks that pathologize individuals and treat trauma as an isolated, personal problem. In contrast, feminist writers locate women’s experiences (and symptoms) of the trauma caused by men’s violence within wider geographic, social, cultural and political landscapes. This article brings contemporary perspectives on trauma into conversation with research on domestic abuse in a large, rural English county. Our purpose is threefold. First, we draw on academic and clinical literatures to document the history, and deficiencies, of dominant representations of trauma. Second, we present new research on domestic abuse in rural England that makes an original contribution to international debates on rural domestic abuse and illustrates the salience of feminist perspectives on trauma. Third, we consider the implications of our arguments for responses to rural domestic abuse. We conclude by arguing for feminist trauma-informed understandings of, and responses to, domestic abuse in rural (and urban) areas.