From gender bias to a gender-based approach. Theory and methodology behind of professionals better dealing with domestic violence cases

To bring about a sustainable change to end domestic violence, professionals in probation, social work, prosecution, victims’ aid, child protective services, women’s shelters, and youth care need a gender-based... [ view full abstract ]

To bring about a sustainable change to end domestic violence, professionals in probation, social work, prosecution, victims’ aid, child protective services, women’s shelters, and youth care need a gender-based understanding of domestic violence (DV), including patterns of abuse and coercive control, and how power imbalances are used to isolate, control, and manipulate children and (ex)partners.

In everyday practice the detection of violence and the way it is gendered male or female can easily lead to gender bias. Safe Home workers struggle to analyze violence. Police can misinterpret avoidance behavior and withdrawal of the complaint. Probation workers can identify with perpetrators and overlook the needs of victims and witnesses. A new Dutch movement for Probation— RUIM BAAN— encourages professionals to think creatively and use instruments such as the B-SAFER form to classify violence (Lünnemann & Bosker, 2017) and in the experiment of Learning Professionals Communities joint knowledge based decisions are made on DV and youth delinquency cases (Dijkstra, Krechtig & Menger, 2017). 
To learn more collectively we address the following questions based on a DV case in cooperation with the audience, which highlight theoretical and methodological issues:

1. In the violent encounters, who does what to whom and what is the impact? (Hester). What does this mean for the upbringing of the children? 
2. What has happened, from the perspectives of all actors, including your own? (Munro)
3. How can the situation be changed to be safer for all involved, so de-escalation prevents repetition?
4. Which interagency partners are involved and why or why not? Who does (not) add value? Do agencies have contradictory standpoints and findings? Which of the three “planets” (domestic violence perpetrator and victim; child protection; and child contact, Hester, 2011) can be detected and how do they work?