Amrapali Maitra: "Sita's Lament: On Culture and Domestic Violence in India"
This talk examines how culture shapes women's experiences of and responses to domestic violence in Kolkata, India. Based on two years of ethnographic fieldwork, the talk will demonstrate that 1) patterns of violence reflect broader arrangements of domesticity and the inter-generational household; 2) expressions of violence emerge from local idioms of care, violence, and the body; and 3) women's responses to violence include higher thresholds for institutional intervention and greater fluidity in moving between domestic arrangements. Overall, these findings from India challenge the notion of a 'universal' definition of domestic violence and suggest we need new vocabularies for intervention beyond 'staying or leaving'. These insights are important for clinicians and domestic violence advocates to better respond to variegated experiences of abuse, including among diverse immigrant communities in the US.
Amrapali Maitra, MD, PhD, is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine.
Clayman Faculty Affiliates are welcome to attend the lunch seminars. All Stanford academics are eligible to become Clayman Institute Faculty Affiliates.
If you would like more details, please email claymanfellowship [at] stanford.edu (claymanfellowship[at]stanford[dot]edu).