This text offers a wide-ranging review of feminist understandings of violence against women. It is founded on a bedrock of radical feminism, which offers the most comprehensive analysis of the nature and meanings of men’s violence against women and children. The book examines feminist analyses in a number of broad areas, including debates around the definition and origins of male violence, critiques of sex and sexuality, the intersection of racism and sexism in some forms of sexualized violence, the extent to which male perpetrators act out of choice and hence should be held accountable, and feminism’s relation to law. When viewed together, these streams of thought offer a thorough, though not exhaustive, précis of the feminist work undertaken to date to explain men’s violence against women.


Feminist Frameworks will be of interest not only to students of women’s studies courses but also any woman or man striving to make sense of the current pandemic of sexualized violence. Prepare to be challenged!