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In this chapter I employ a hybrid critical framework that draws on feminist media studies, feminist critiques of post-feminism, theories of intersectionality, and genre theory to consider a range of domestic violence stories on screen. The chapter begins with a summary of prototypical patterns of narrative and character in contemporary Hollywood films about abuse and subsequently explores two recent media representations that, while conforming to certain of these patterns, also introduce alternative perspectives: the 2017/2019 Home Box Office miniseries Big Little Lies and French director Xavier Legrand's 2018 film Custody (Jusqu’à la garde). I argue that both of these media texts draw on familiar genres that engage audiences not simply to generate sympathy for the abused woman-turned-heroine, but to challenge persistent myths about domestic violence such as that abusers are monsters who never show love towards their partners; that abused women are weak, passive, and the victims of their own bad judgment; that the effects and repercussions of abuse end with the departure of the abuser; that, ultimately, the problem of abuse must be “solved” by the individual; that the “solution” is as simple as leaving; and that there is little as a community or a society that we can do. I conclude that, in different ways and to different degrees, each of these media texts succeeds in making small but significant interventions into the predictable formulas of mainstream Hollywood domestic violence films through narratives that foreground the complexities, contradictions, and dilemmas of abuse.

Now and again the discourse of women's violence being ignored and minimised emerges, but what is already known about this subject? Within the domestic abuse literature, there appears to be a weighty discord between Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and family conflict researchers. Both groups present very distinct findings regarding the motives and prevalence of women's use of violence. This theoretical chapter aims to provide an historical and contemporary grounded overview of how women's use of violence in domestic abuse incidents has been depicted in the literature within these two groups of researchers (VAWG and family conflict). This analysis will be especially focussed on the underlying rationale behind women's violence and its prevalence and impact.

This chapter focuses on the value of TED Lectures on the issue of domestic violence and abuse (DVA). It outlines a generic framework with which to understand and analyse the impact of TED Lectures on a theme as complex as DVA is, in the context of popular Western culture. It does so by looking in details at the Ted Lecture of Leslie Morgan Steiner from 2012, which aims to answer the question ‘Why Domestic Violence Victims Don't Leave: Crazy Love’ through her own personal experience.

In the attempt to understand the impact of this TED Lecture we look at the literature on TED Lectures, the unique aspects of DVA, who is the presenter, the impact and its components, the active viewers who sent written comments on the Ted Lectures, the technical effect, the comparison with two other Ted Lectures on DVA, ending by identifying gaps in the analysis provided by the three Ted Lectures.

Presenters share with the viewers their personal experience, as well as their experience as activists in organisations and programmes set out to change the status quo in the field of DVA.

The lectures impact through layers of emotional and intellectual facets, which speak to the individuals viewing them through the lens of their own emotional and intellectual experiences of DVA on the one hand, while on the other hand being also influenced by the mode of presentation and the presenter her/himself.

Family is considered to be the corner stone of every society; it enhances its functionality and sustainability. However, the problem of spousal abuse has destroyed and disorganized many families in Nigeria, thereby hampering the stability of the basic institution. This study takes a look at spousal abuse as it affects the family stability as perceived in Lafia, Nasarawa State, Nigeria. Three research questions and a hypothesis guided the study. Descriptive research design was used, the population of the study consisted of 200 respondents. The study combines both qualitative and quantitative methods, which involves the use of questionnaire and focus group discussion (FGD) to collect data. The study selects 200 respondents and two FGD sessions of 10 participants each (married men and women). Data generated was analyzed using descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation while the hypothesis was tested using linear regression. The results of the study revealed that wife/husband battering, insults/name calling, spousal rape/sexual deprivation, economic deprivation, and food deprivation constitutes spousal abuse in Lafia, Nasarawa State; destruction of platform necessary for good and healthy upbringing of the children among others are how the problems of spousal abuse affect family stability; there is a significant relationship between what constitutes spousal abuse and causes of spousal abuse in Lafia, Nasarawa State. It was recommended that more sensitization and education to end spousal abuse should be vigorously pursued; government and non-government organizations should create avenues where women are empowered and psychological centers for rehabilitation should be established.

The ways in which battered women respond to domestic violence, and the ways the legal system constructs those responses, constitute the framework of this chapter. The analysis focuses on mitigation in sentences of battered women who killed their abusers and examines the manifestation of agency and victimization in the mitigation structure. My thesis is that these women are perceived by courts solely as victims who lack agency and autonomy. Three main themes emerge from the analysis: first, the courts focus on the mental state of the defendants, stressing their psychological deficiencies as the primary mitigating factors. Secondly, many cases are categorized by courts as unique cases. Thirdly, in several cases the courts portray the women as “victims of circumstances”. An alternative analysis to that offered by the courts, one that seeks to reframe the mitigation process, is introduced in this chapter. According to this analysis, the narrative used in cases of battered women who kill should be changed to reflect dimensions of agency and resistance. In the suggested discourse, the abuse these women suffer is acknowledged, but is used to explain the women's urge to self-preservation and thus, the rationality and reasonableness of their acts.