Backward, Dumb, and Violent Hillbillies? Rural Geographies and Intersectional Studies on Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

Urban and rural geographies should be further included in feminist intersectional research on intimate partner violence (IPV). The article reviews existing research on the challenges facing rural victims of IPV. This research makes visible the specific problems rurality imposes on victims of IPV. However, research on rural IPV risks being misused and subsequently reinforcing othering and stereotypes of rurality and rural inhabitants. The article suggests that researchers alternate between intra- and anti-categorical approaches. On the one hand, rural victims of IPV should be analyzed as a neglected point of intersection, and on the other the diversity of ruralities should be acknowledged.