This journal article discusses separation as a form of resistance to male intimate partner violence. The author utilises a Foucauldian feminist poststructuralist approach to the analysis of the topic and seeks to address the widespread Western cultural response to intimate partner violence articulated in the question, "Why doesn't she leave?" The author argues that it is important to recognise separation as "an attempt to effect a long-term transformation of the extreme asymmetries in power relations to which abused women are subjected." In this analysis separation is seen as a tool to effect a long-term transformation, rather than to necessarily end the relationship. The author further argues that "because the success with which women can utilise separation as a tool of change is dependant upon the social contexts within which they are situated and operate, it is necessary to critically examine that context." These social contexts include the women's social networks of friends and family as well as the helping agencies such as the courts and social agencies she may need to interact with for support for her and her children. The author concludes that the central point of this paper is an analysis of the women's social networks' discursive constructions of separation which can govern its efficacy as a tool for transformation.

Journal of International Women's Studies 4(3) May 2003 : 62-80