Gendered violence in minority communities has long been a flashpoint for debates on multiculturalism. Whereas multiculturalism has been critiqued for not supporting gender equality, intersectionality has been heralded as a solution to ensuring women receive holistic responses. This article draws findings from a broader study on domestic and family violence (DFV) in Australian Muslim communities, highlighting how intersectionality, as applied in the Australian context, often fails to attend to the depth of Australian Muslim women's experiences. Participants’ reflections showcase a number of limitations as well as how multicultural frameworks can provide the infrastructure to meaningfully engage with their particular cultural and religious needs. The insights contribute to scholarship that critiques tokenistic applications of intersectionality.
Abdel-FattahR. (2020). Countering violent extremism, governmentality and Australian Muslim youth as ‘becoming terrorist’. Journal of Sociology, 56(3), 372–387. https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783319842666
2.
Adu-AmpongE. A.AdamsE. A. (2020). “But you are also Ghanaian, you should know”: Negotiating the insider–outsider research positionality in the fieldwork encounter. Qualitative Inquiry, 26(6), 583–592. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800419846532
3.
AguilarD. D. (2012). From triple jeopardy to intersectionality: The feminist perplex. Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 32(2), 415–428. https://doi.org/10.1215/1089201X-1629016
4.
AhmedF.KrayemG. (2021). Understanding sharia processes: Women’s experiences of family disputes. Bloomsbury.
5.
Alexander-FloydN. G. (2012). Disappearing acts: Reclaiming intersectionality in the social sciences in a post—black feminist era. Feminist Formations, 24(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1353/ff.2012.0003
6.
AlmeidaR. V.DurkinT. (1999). The cultural context model: Therapy for couples with domestic violence. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 25(3), 313–324. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-0606.1999.tb00250.x
7.
BevelanderP.TarasR. (2013). The twilight of multiculturalism? Findings from across Europe. In TarasA. (Ed.), Challenging multiculturalism: European models of diversity (pp. 3–25). Edinburgh University Press.
8.
BuckleyA. (2019). Not “completely” divorced: Muslim women in Australia navigating Muslim family laws. Melbourne University Publishing.
CarbadoD. W.HarrisC. I. (2019). Intersectionality at 30: Mapping the margins of anti-essentialism, intersectionality, and dominance theory. Harvard Law Review, 132(8), 2193–2239.
11.
CollinsP. H. (2000). Black feminist thought: knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. Psychology Press.
12.
Commonwealth of Australia (1978). Migrant services and programs: Report of the review of post-arrival programs and services for migrants. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1474121432
13.
CrenshawK. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A Black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1989(1), 139–167.
14.
CrenshawK. (1991). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241–1299. https://doi.org/10.2307/1229039
15.
DavisK. (2008). Intersectionality as buzzword: A sociology of science perspective on what makes a feminist theory successful. Feminist Theory, 9(1), 67–85. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464700108086364
Elhelw WrightS. (2022). Navigating the disjuncture between domestic and family violence systems: Australian muslim women’s challenges when disclosing violence. Australian Feminist Law Journal, 48(2), 321–347. https://doi.org/10.1080/13200968.2023.2170893
20.
GhafourniaN. (2020). Negotiating gendered religious space: Australian Muslim women and the mosque. Religions, 11(12), 686. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11120686
21.
GhobadzadehN. (2010). A multiculturalism-feminism dispute: Muslim women and the Sharia debate in Canada and Australia. Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, 48(3), 301–319. https://doi.org/10.1080/14662043.2010.489747
22.
GramiA. (2013). Islamic feminism: A new feminist movement or a strategy by women for acquiring rights?Contemporary Arab Affairs, 6(1), 102–113. https://doi.org/10.1080/17550912.2012.757851
23.
HansiaA.MerollaA. J. (2021). Intimate partner violence disclosure among Muslim-Americans: A survey study of disclosure likelihood to varying networks and the roles of relational context, religiosity, and marginalization. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 49(6), 609–631.
24.
HardingS. (1995). Multiculturalism in Australia: Moving race/ethnic relations from extermination to celebration?Race, Gender & Class, 3(1), 7–26.
HenneK.TroshynskiE. (2013). Mapping the margins of intersectionality: Criminological possibilities in a transnational world. Theoretical Criminology, 17(4), 455–473. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362480613494990
HoC. (2014). From social justice to social cohesion: A history of Australian multicultural policy. In JakubowiczA.HoC. (Eds.), ‘For those who’ve come across the seas…’: Australian multicultural theory, policy and practice (pp. 31–41). Anthem Press.
29.
JakubowiczA.HoC. (2014). ‘For those who’ve come across the seas…’: Australian multicultural theory, policy and practice. Anthem Press.
30.
KeddieA. (2023). Indigenous and settler understandings for addressing gender-based violence in Australia: The significance of a decolonial approach. Men and Masculinities, 26(2), 308–328. https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184X221143134
31.
LeveyG. B. (2019). The Turnbull government’s ‘post-multiculturalism’ multicultural policy. Australian Journal of Political Science, 54(4), 456–473. https://doi.org/10.1080/10361146.2019.1634675
McDonaldJ. (2005). Neo-liberalism and the pathologizing of public issues: The displacement of feminist service models in domestic violence support services. Australian Social Work, 58(3), 275–284. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1447-0748.2005.00220.x
34.
McQueeneyK. (2016). Teaching domestic violence in the new millennium: Intersectionality as a framework for social change. Violence Against Women, 22(12), 1463–1475. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801215626808
MurrayS.PowellA. (2009). What’s the problem?”: Australian public policy constructions of domestic and family violence. Violence Against Women, 15(5), 532–552. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801209331408
37.
NashJ. (2019). Black feminism re-imagined. Duke University Press.
OkinS. M.NussbaumM. C.Al-HibriA.An-Na‘ImA.BhabhaH. K.GilmanS. L.HalleyJ. E.HonigB.KymlickaW.ParekhB.PollittK.PostR.RazJ.SassenS.SunsteinC. R.TamirY. (1999). Is multiculturalism bad for women?Princeton University Press.
40.
PettmanJ. (1992). Living in the margins: Racism, sexism, and feminism in Australia. Allen & Unwin.
41.
PotterH. (2015). Intersectionality and criminology: Disrupting and revolutionizing studies of crime (1st ed.). Routledge.
42.
RichardsE. (2008). Destination Australia: Migration to Australian since 1901. University of New South Wales Press.
43.
RiedelM. (2022). Studying while Muslim: Anti-discrimination law, countering violent extremism, and suspect youth. Griffith Law Review, 31(2), 193–216. https://doi.org/10.1080/10383441.2022.2076967
44.
RoumeliotisV.Paschalidis-ChilasE. (2014). Settlement and community development: Moving and shaping our civil society. In JakubowiczA.HoC. (Eds.), For those who’ve come across the seas…’: Australian multicultural theory, policy and practice (pp. 83–93). Anthem Press.
45.
SiimB.MokreM. (2012). Negotiating gender and diversity in an emergent European public sphere. Palgrave Macmillan.
46.
SokoloffN. J.DupontI. (2005). Domestic violence at the intersections of race, class, and gender: Challenges and contributions to understanding violence against marginalized women in diverse communities. Violence Against Women, 11(1), 38–64. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801204271476
47.
SongS (2007). Justice, gender, and the politics of multiculturalism. Cambridge University Press.
SpearmanK. J.HardestyJ. L.CampbellJ. (2023). Post-separation abuse: A concept analysis. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 79(4), 1225–1246. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.15310
50.
StridS.WalbyS.ArmstrongJ. (2013). Intersectionality and multiple inequalities: Visibility in British policy on violence against women. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State and Society, 20(4), 558–581. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxt019
51.
SweetP. L. (2020). Who knows? Reflexivity in feminist standpoint theory and Bourdieu. Gender & Society, 34(6), 922–950. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243220966600
52.
TavanG. (2012). No going back? Australian multiculturalism as a path-dependent process. Australian Journal of Political Science, 47(4), 547–561. https://doi.org/10.1080/10361146.2012.731486
53.
TimmermansS.TavoryI. (2012). Theory construction in qualitative research: From grounded theory to abductive analysis. Sociological Theory, 30(3), 167–186. https://doi.org/10.1177/0735275112457914
54.
VaughanC.JarallahY.MurdoloA.MurrayL.QuiazonR.BlockK.ZannettinoL. (2019). The MuSeS project: A mixed methods study to increase understanding of the role of settlement and multicultural services in supporting migrant and refugee women experiencing violence in Australia. ANROWS. https://anrowsdev.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Vaughan-RR-MuSeS.pdf
55.
WalterM. (2013). The globalising era and citizenship rights for indigenous Australian women. In Maratou-AliprantiL.ChowE. N.TastsoglouE.AbrahamM. (Eds.), Contours of citizenship: Women, diversity and practices of citizenship (pp. 95–110). Ashgate.
56.
WebsterA. (2007). The re-conceptualisation of domestic violence under the Howard government since 1996. Lilith: A Feminist History Journal, 16, 57–68.
57.
WilliamsE. N.BarberJ. S. (2004). Power and responsibility in therapy: Integrating feminism and multiculturalism. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 32, 390–401.
58.
WilsonS. (2001). The wedge election: The battle for Australia’s disaffected voters. AQ: Australian Quarterly, 73(5), 8–40. https://doi.org/10.2307/20638027
