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Dissertation Information for Kirsten S. Rambo

NAME:
- Kirsten S. Rambo

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Women's Studies

SCHOOL:
- Emory University (USA) (2003)

ADVISORS:
- Mary E. Odem
- Beth Reingold

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Julie Mertus

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: "Trivial complaints:" The Role of Privacy in Domestic Violence Law and Activism in the United States

Abstract: This dissertation examines the history of domestic violence law and activism in the U.S., particularly as this history has been affected by privacy. Legal and cultural concepts of privacy have historically influenced the ways in which this society has understood domestic violence. My project explores the relationship between privacy and domestic violence through an analysis of domestic violence litigation that is historically situated. Within this context, non-interference by the state into supposedly "private" family matters has often been the norm--to the great detriment of battered women.

Furthermore, the discourse of privacy as it relates to this problem has historically incorporated specific presumptions about race, class, and sexuality. I thus examine the extent to which concepts of privacy have been imbued with such assumptions and consider their ramifications for victims as well as activists.

The dissertation begins with an analysis of courts' and activists' responses to domestic violence during the late nineteenth century and continues through the late twentieth century. The battered women's movement of the late twentieth century emerged on the heels of the battle to secure abortion rights. Characterizing abortion as a personal decision, pro-choice advocates urged the state not to interfere in this private realm. This protection of the private sphere played a central role in securing this important right for women.

Yet this strategy has had serious consequences for battered women's advocates, for the concept of state non-interference in the private realm has also been used to protect batterers. That these two movements emerged almost contemporaneously highlights an important legal paradox. I explore the extent to which the reproductive rights movement has informed the battered women's movement and influenced judicial opinions with regard to privacy. My research suggests that anti-domestic-violence advocates have, at several critical junctures, utilized conceptions of privacy borrowed from the reproductive rights movement to secure legal protections for battered women.

Ultimately, my dissertation explores alternative models of privacy that are both innovative and potentially powerful. Drawing upon these feminist contributions, my analysis outlines a state response to domestic violence that is egalitarian and rooted in empowerment, rather than paternalism or indifference.

MPACT Scores for Kirsten S. Rambo

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-02-04 10:37:16

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