A narrative exploration of love and abuse in women's intimate partner relationships

Abstract

Women’s narratives of their lived experience when love and abuse co-exist in intimate partner relationships, provide insight into the ways that their action for safety is impacted by their beliefs about love, the micro-politics of these relationships, and the macro-politics of the structural inequalities that constrain these relationships. Women’s vulnerability to abuse is increased and their access to safety limited by a belief in love as a promise, the dominant romance narratives including the fairy tale and dark romance narratives, by the practice of love with the two core conditions that support abuse, and by the social structures and institutions of society that constrain these relationships. Understanding the impact of how love is practiced, the dominant narratives of love and abuse, and the ways that social structures and institutions constrain women when love and abuse co-exist will enhance women’s access to safety and social work services.