Preventive Socialization of Gender Violence

The frequency of gender violence in 2013 was extremely high; 35% of women worldwide experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence (World Health Organization, 2013). Considerable research is being conducted to understand and ameliorate this situation. Yet, further research is needed to better identify the causes and consequences of gender violence and to analyze in-depth methods that can advance research. This special issue attempts to show how communicative methodology (CM) is contributing to this goal. In the 21st century, violence against women continues to occur, and new realities have emerged that affect younger girls. In the United States, the case of Amanda Todd, a 15-year-old girl, moved the entire world in 2012. Her online testimony 1 month before her suicide stated, “I have nobody. I need someone . ” (Todd, 2012). A decision that she made at the age of 12 launched her into a vicious cycle that she could not escape. Her family attempted to help her by changing her school twice, but these efforts were in vain. Sexual harassment continued through social networks. Before her suicide, her peers called her “a bitch” and after, someone even posted photos of her, making fun of her death. Contrary to many other cases, her peers were aware of this harassment; however, nobody wanted or knew how to help Amanda. In Spain in 2005, Maria, a 12-year-old girl, asked her parents whether she could stop attending school. She was a good student with no apparent conflicts, which made her request confusing. However, long conversations between Maria and a relative revealed that 2 years earlier, in her last year of primary school, she agreed to sexual practices that were proposed by a boy whom she liked. After, three of his friends started to harass her for the same attention, and other boys soon followed suit. Her friends, who had originally encouraged her behavior, initially defended her from sexual harassment; however, her teachers and the families were unaware of the situation. Two years later, Maria’s friend began dating one of the perpetrators, and they subsequently excluded Maria from their group of friends and referred to her as a “bitch. ” When her mother discovered what was happening, she recalled many situations related to these boys. For instance, she recalled seeing these boys looking at her and saying, “Look, it’s her mom. ” She remembered smiling at them then, but was later horrified that she had been so wrong in her perception of reality, realizing that their smiles actually reflected their harassment of her daughter. This special issue of Qualitative Inquiry addresses these situations and many others that have not been widely acknowledged, using a CM to provide perspective about these cases. This special issue is the first of its kind; I have limited the contributions to research results that have been finalized and that focus on heterosexual relationships, primarily among youth and teenagers. With this compendium of articles, we contribute to the international scientific debate on how this research method can be instrumental in transforming the mechanisms of violence against women who are being perpetuated from one generation to the next. The research results can shed light on the measures that identify, prevent, and overcome violence against women. Furthermore, this special issue will also engage a broader scientific debate where more methods and more realities must be analyzed. With this intention, I have included an ethnography, which also addresses violence against women from a different approach. This article complements the other works presented here. Within these pages, the reader approaches reality in a more veracious way and can deepen his or her understanding of the historic and social motives that perpetuate violence against women in our current society. In addition, this special issue invites researchers to continue developing methods that expand the possibilities for successful and desirable non-violent human relationships. Qualitative Inquiry offers an appropriate interdisciplinary forum in which to debate methods and to consider revolutionary approaches for overcoming violence against women. This debate, as Denzin suggests when writing about the reflexive interview, should always serve to further social transformation and improvement of human kind: 537221QIXXXX10.1177/1077800414537221Qualitative InquiryPuigvert research-article2014