Introduction

Abstract

Violence against women is a salient concern for the women’s movement, but the aim of a society free of gendered violence is still to be realised. This book investigates the experience of the women’s movement in Sweden and the UK in its attempts to organise against gendered violence, the responses it has given and the approaches taken in addressing the issue of violence against women. A central theme of the research is the dual roles of feminist anti-violence organisations such as women’s refuges and crisis centres — that is, the provision of alternative welfare services and campaigning for social, political and policy change — and how these dual roles impact upon their relationship and engagement with the state and its agencies.