Hostile environments? Exploring gender and class in relation to sexual violence

This research project addresses the knowledge gap that exists regarding working class women’s experiences of sexual
violence. The aim of the project is to explore how sexual violence is understood and experienced by victim-survivors at the
intersection of gender and class. In doing so, we will develop a more nuanced picture of how social class intersects with,
and is modified by, gender inequality in relation to sexual violence. To recognise violence as gendered is to enable a
mobilisation of people to challenge violence against women; however, we must also retain a class focus as, for example,
being considered as a ‘credible complainer’ is a deeply classed notion rooted in the notion of respectability (Phipps 2009).
In this study, we will speak to women about their experiences of making their experiences known and the nature of
responses, to better understand the nexus between gender, class and sexual violence.