Domestic violence in a Muslim context

Summary

Researchers at the Universities of Bristol, UWE and Cardiff in the UK conducted a 30 month Economic
and Social Research Council-funded project to explore how 'justice' (in its wider sense) is understood,
sought, and experienced by victims/survivors of gender-based violence and by practitioners working
to support them. Through semi-structured interviews and police data analysis, this work is also
documenting how inequalities and identities intersect with how victims/survivors perceive and seek
justice. This paper presents the findings from one strand of this work: how justice is mediated through
religious based arbitration (Sharia Councils in the UK) and how faith may influence personal and
institutional conceptions of justice and affect decision-making.
The presentation focuses specifically on the role of Sharia Councils in arbitrating cases of intimate
partner violence and present the findings of interviews with both victims/survivors who have used
this mechanism and with practitioners involved in their leadership and administration as well as
women’s rights activists.

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Biography

Dr Nadia Aghtaie is a Senior Lecturer in Gender and Violence at University of Bristol, School for Policy
Study. She is an active member of Gender Violence Research Centre and Co-Editor of the Journal of
Gender-Based Violence. Since 2008, Nadia has worked with colleagues on various projects such as,
forced marriage within the UK, violence against women in rural and urban areas in the UK. Her most
recent research project was on intimate partner violence and abuse (IPVA) among teenagers in five
European countries: 'Safeguarding Teenage Intimate Relationships (STIR): Connecting online and
offline contexts and risks'; 'Justice, Inequality & Gender Based Violence'; 'Gender based Violence and
Displacement'.

Relevant publications

Aghtaie, N. Larkins, C. Barter, C. Stanley, N. Wood, M. Overlien, C. (2018) Interpersonal Violence and
Abuse in Young People’s Relationships in Five European Countries: online and offline
normalisation of heteronormativity, Journal of Gender-Based Violence, 2 (2): 292-311.
Aghtaie, N. (2017) Rape within heterosexual intimate relationships in Iran: legal frameworks, cultural
and structural violence, Families, Relationships and Societies, Vol 6, No 2, 167-183.
Aghtaie, N. & Gangoli. G (2015) Understanding Gender Based Violence in National and International
Contexts. London: Routledge