Networks, support groups, and domestic violence

The author researched women's experiences of domestic violence and abuse in Calcutta, India. She reports on their strategies for coping with and resisting this violence, noting that the majority of the women developed resistance strategies, and that in many cases these worked. A pragmatic approach is taken, since, the author argues, it is unhelpful to assume that the best course of action for these women would be to leave their partners. The women who were most successful in resisting violence were those who were least isolated; who had access to other family members, or other women through a variety of organisations.