No Safe Haven

Male violence against women is a major source of fear, distress and injury for women, crossing lines of ethnicity, economic status, sexual orientation and age. Indeed, despite the under-reporting of statistics, acts of violence are everyday events in women's lives, and these acts exert insidious influence even on those individuals who are not direct targets. No Safe Haven offers an in-depth examination of this problem by focusing on the physical abuse, sexual assault and sexual harassment that many women endure at home, at work, at school and in the community. It reviews the literature on the prevalence and the physical and psychological effects of each form of violence as well as the literature on prevention and treatment. This exploration reveals several common themes: male violence against women is most commonly perpetrated by men who have some sort of relationship with their victims; male violence against women is much more prevalent than commonly believed; the responses of friends, co-workers and the criminal justice system have tended to compound rather than ameliorate the problem; and gender-related norms and cultural myths have been shown to sanction violence by devaluing women and failing to hold men accountable for their actions. This text offers direction for researchers, practitioners and policy makers.