Philosophiae Doctor - PhD (Women and Gender Studies) / Events in the last few years on the global stage have heralded a new era for domestic workers, which may afford them the voice as subaltern that has been silent until now. Despite being constructed as silent and as subjects without agency, unionised domestic workers organised themselves globally, becoming more visible and making their voices heard. This culminated in the promulgation of the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) Convention No.189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers (or C189) in September 2013, and the establishment of the International Domestic Workers' Federation (IDWF) in October 2013. This broadening of the scope of domestic workers' activism has not yet received sufficient attention in academic research. These two historic events on their own have the potential to change the dominant discourse around domestic workers, by mobilising workers with agency to challenge the meaning of the political ideologies informing their identity positions of exploitation and subjugation.

Bakgrund: Relationsvåld riktat mot kvinnor är ett globalt folkhälsoproblem med många negativa hälsokonsekvenser. Våld i nära relationer sägs vara vanligt och kulturellt accepterat i Ghana trots införandet av Domestic Violence Act år 2007 som gör relationsvåld illegalt. Forskning har visat att sjuksköterskor besitter en nyckelposition för att arbeta mot relationsvåld men att många sjuksköterskor saknar beredskap. Sjuksköterskeutbildningen har visat sig vara otillräcklig vad gäller relationsvåld. Syfte: Att beskriva Ghananska sjuksköterskestudenters attityder till relationsvåld och hur ämnet berörs i utbildningen. Metod: En deskriptiv kvalitativ studie som baseras på data från sex semistrukturerade intervjuer med Ghananska sjuksköterskestudenter. Intervjuerna spelades in, transkriberades och analyserades därefter med hjälp av innehållsanalys. Resultat: Sjuksköterskestudenterna kände sig förberedda för att möta kvinnor utsatta för relationsvåld och ansåg att sjuksköterskan hade en viktig roll. Studenterna tyckte att relationsvåld var ett problem som skulle lösas inom familjen och sjuksköterskan beskrevs ha en roll som rådgivare. Ingen av studenterna tyckte att relationsvåld var acceptabelt. De pratade om könsroller, mannens överordnade position i familjen och att våld uppstod när rollerna inte upprätthölls. Låg utbildningsnivå sågs som en orsak till att relationsvåld uppstår och utbildning föreslogs vara en nyckel till att eliminera relationsvåld. Slutsats: En förbättrad sjuksköterskeutbildning som problematiserar relationsvåld ur ett genusperspektiv behövs för att påverka blivande sjuksköterskors attityder och möjliggöra en professionell vård av utsatta patienter världen över. Klinisk betydelse: För att förbättra sjuksköterskeutbildningar borde relationsvåld och dess samband med den könsbestämda maktstrukturen uppmärksammas i större utsträckning. / Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global public health problem with many negative health consequences. IPV is said to be common and culturally accepted in Ghana despite the introduction of The Domestic Violence Act 2007 that prohibits IPV. Research has shown that nurses are in a key position to handle IPV though many nurses are unprepared. A lack of IPV education for nursing students has been identified. Aim: To describe Ghanaian nursing students’ attitudes toward IPV and how it is addressed in their education. Method: A descriptive qualitative study based on data from six semi-structured interviews with Ghanaian nursing students. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed with content analysis. Results: Ghanaian nursing students felt prepared to meet IPV and they thought that nurse’s role was of importance. Students advocated for a domestic handling of IPV and described the nurse’s role as a counsellor. None of the students found IPV acceptable. Students spoke about the gender roles and illuminated the view of the man as superior and that lack of role performance might lead to IPV. Low educational level was spoken of as a reason for the prevalence of IPV and suggested as a key to the elimination of IPV. Conclusion: To affect nurses’ attitudes and enable professional handling of IPV we suggest more IPV education that problematizes IPV from a gender perspective in nursing programmes globally. Clinical significance: To improve nursing educations concerning IPV more attention needs to be given IPV and the correlation between IPV and the gendered power structure.

This thesis explores to role of theatre in the lives of criminalized women. It seeks to better understand the ways in which theatre initiatives can be used as a tool for participants through various means, such as potentially being a form of self-expression, or a way to gain voice. This exploration was facilitated by conducting a case study of the Clean Break Theatre Company, a theatre company for criminalized women in London, England. Data was collected through performance and course observations and interviews with twelve women. The final themes shape the exploration as participants identify the importance of self expression through theatre, and its ability to aid in personal transformation or growth. Theatre initiatives are important because they create a unique lens into the experiences of these women, as well as being used as a tool for change in their lives.

The transmission of Covid-19 has put Sweden in a new situation with unique challenges for the society and its population. Based on the restrictions and exhortation to stay at home during transmission of Covid-19, concern has been increased about the pandemics potential impact on domestic violence. Newspapers all around the world post warning signs for increased phone calls to social services and hotlines from women who are exposed to domestic violence. Focusing on the Swedish context, this thesis has inquired workers at social services and women's shelters who in particular support and help women, who are victims of domestic violence. The data collection has been focused on how they work with the women during the transmission of Covid-19 to get an understanding of how this might affect their day to day work. The data have been collected through semi-structured interviews and have been analysed through qualitative content analysis. The data has shown that the work has been affected in several ways: with social distance, physical distance in treatment, decreased preventive work, difficulties to reach the women who are controlled by their perpetrators, and the general work in the field with cooperation with other agencies.

This PhD by project consists of a Manual for workers engaged in men’s behaviour change programs and a dissertation that theorises the principles underpinning the approach. The Manual and the dissertation examine a constructivist approach to challenging men’s violence against women. / The project, which is situated in rural Australia, is called the Men’s SHED (Self Help Ending Domestics) Project. The SHED Manual is based on a constructivist approach to men’s violence against women that reflects best practice principles within a profeminist framework. The Manual is comprised of eight sections that articulate various aspects of challenging men’s violence against women, with individuals, groups and communities. The dissertation details the journey of the project from its inception in 1994 to the beginning of 2002. / Personal construct theory provides a philosophical basis for the approach being enunciated in this study and it enables an exploration of constructive alternatives in engaging and challenging men towards behaviour change. As such, it is utilised both in engaging men to become non-violent and at the same time, reflexively enabling workers and facilitators to examine ways in which they can construct more effective ways for this to happen. The project is thus one of hopeful anticipation leading to new constructive alternatives in the endeavour to stop men’s violence against women.