000 03212nam a22002897a 4500
650 4 _aSEXUAL VIOLENCE
_9531
999 _c5705
_d5705
005 20250625151443.0
008 180108s2017 -nz||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
040 _aAFVC
100 _aMcDonald, Heather L.
_97259
245 _aRape crisis services ‘Standing Alone’ :
_bpolicy-making as problem representation: The response to sexual violence in New Zealand 1983-89
_cHeather L. McDonald
246 _aA thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts
260 _c2017
300 _aelectronic document (167 pages) ; PDF file
500 _aMA thesis, Victoria University of Wellington
520 _aAfter more than 30 years of feminist activism in New Zealand the government policy response to sexual violence continues to be highly contested. This thesis draws on archival material (both official and community records) to trace the competing discourses and agendas within the early policy development process. This process involved the pākehā and Māori women’s rights movements seeking to influence the ways in which the problem of rape was represented and responded to by government within the social policy context. Using Bacchi’s “What’s the problem represented to be?” methodology, the analysis of these discourses identifies the silences and assumptions, as well as the privileged government agenda that redefined, individualised and sought to professionalise the services for rape victims/survivors. I explore the perspectives of feminists involved in the movement and how tensions with the state may be seen to be reflected in the policy process, particularly through the emergence of neo-liberalism, the interplay between liberal and radical feminist views and in the highly contested area of rape education and prevention. Further, I consider how the problem of meeting cultural needs through social policy responses stalled, despite seeming state support for such responses through the 1980s and what it may be about the issue of rape itself and its connection to gender inequality that has contributed to a muted government response to the issue of sexual violence. In a postscript I briefly review current policy discourse and comment on how the focus on rehabilitation, the financial instability of services, lack of adequate provision of appropriate services for women and communities continue to be features of the sector today. I argue that a specific focus on rape education and prevention, critical for reducing the incidence of rape, continues to be severely under attended to, and that this in part reflects continued reluctance to address both the nature of rape and the need for wider structural change in addressing it. (Author's abstract). Record #5705
610 0 _96991
_aNational Collective of Rape Crisis & Related Groups of Aotearoa Inc.
650 _aATTITUDES
_970
650 _aGOVERNMENT POLICY
_9275
650 _aRAPE
_9488
650 _aSOCIAL POLICY
_9551
650 4 _aSUPPORT SERVICES
_9591
650 _aTHESES
_9606
651 4 _aNEW ZEALAND
_92588
856 _uhttp://hdl.handle.net/10063/6569
942 _2ddc
_cTHESIS