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Social science research is the primary way in which knowledge is produced to inform policies, services, and support for victims. Changing sociological research methods and design will lead to new discoveries into IPV, and advance the field of sociology. If we truly want to understand IPV, we must move beyond research’s heteronormative framework. Quantitative surveys that ask about sex or gender as purely demographic information, similar to age or location, are neglecting a wealth of data. Separating gender from the actual abusive behaviors will allow us to see what is happening more clearly. Similarly, pretending that IPV only exists in heterosexual relationships does a disservice to LGBTQ+ individuals and IPV research as a whole. To state the obvious, sexuality is complex. And making research methods and design more inclusive would not be difficult.
Call to Action
We construct gender and sexuality every day, in our lives and in our research. Building new frameworks is a matter of constructing those constructs in a more inclusive way. The NCAVP report showed significant gender and sexuality bias among domestic violence shelters, which illustrates how serious the consequences of not questioning IPV research’s framework are. Entire segments of the population are completely left out. Judith Lorber takes a firm stance on the responsibility of sociologists in research in her article “Beyond the Binaries: Depolarizing the categories of Sex, Sexuality, and Gender” (1996). She states: “As researchers, as theorists, and as activists, sociologists have to go beyond paying lip service to the diversity of bodies, sexualities, genders, and racial-ethnic and class positions” (146). Sociological research has the potential to alleviate social problems. But to do so, it must question the gendered language we use and the heteronormative assumptions we make every day.
We construct gender and sexuality every day, in our lives and in our research. Building new frameworks is a matter of constructing those constructs in a more inclusive way.
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