Ideas about Sexual Violence and Social Class

Below is an abstract from an article in Sociology raising questions about rape and social class. Most research conducted throughout the world does find an overrepresentation of women with lower income having higher rates of abuse. While it is important to recognize that anyone from any social class can be raped, class does play a role. In our efforts to address sexual violence, we must examine the intersection with issues such as racism, classism, heterosexual privilege, ageism, etc.

Rape and Respectability: Ideas about Sexual Violence and Social Class

Phipps A. Sociology 2009; 43(4): 667-683.

DOI: 10.1177/0038038509105414

(Copyright © 2009, Sage Publications)

Women on low incomes are disproportionately represented among sexual violence survivors, yet feminist research on this topic has paid very little attention to social class. This article blends recent research on class, gender and sexuality with what we know about sexual violence. It is argued that there is a need to engage with classed distinctions between women in terms of contexts for and experiences of sexual violence, and to look at interactions between pejorative constructions of working-class sexualities and how complainants and defendants are perceived and treated. The classed division between the sexual and the feminine, drawn via the notion of respectability, is applied to these issues. This piece is intended to catalyse further research and debate, and raises a number of questions for future work on sexual violence and social class.

From www.safetylit.org