Congratulations to QCDFVR Lecturer Dr Marika Guggisberg on the recent publication of her book Violence Against Women in the 21st Century.  Violence against women (VAW) is an ongoing phenomenon that continues to confront and impact on individuals, sub-populations and whole societies.

In the field of VAW scholarship, Dr Guggisberg’s publication is a timely one, examining issues in relation to contemporary experiences, theories and interventions.  The primary emphasis of this book is the re-situating of major VAW issues in the context of contemporary challenges and current research.

Not only does this publication raises awareness of different forms of violence, including emerging types such as image-based abuse, sextortion and online stalking, but it provides insight from research and reflects the expertise of international scholars.  The role played by cultural expectations and media representations is explored and reasons for ongoing and new digital technology facilitated abuse are discussed.

Violence Against Women in the 21st Century is aimed at scholars, students, practitioners, policy makers and interested community members. It highlights major misconceptions in the context of family and intimate relationships along with the potentially prejudicial attitudes of those who may be responding to the violence which occurs in such relationships. The reader is invited to critically reflect on the complex nature of, and responses to, women’s experiences of interpersonal violence, inequality and racism.

The author recognises that progress has been made in recent years and decades, but contemporary concerns need to be identified, challenges need to be considered to press forward, and tolerance of VAW needs to be reduced and ultimately prevented altogether.

“The revelations of courageous women who have come forward to share their stories will I hope lead to important and long overdue changes in the culture of organisations and workplace behaviours and indeed the everyday transactions of life.” 

In short, this book makes it abundantly clear that there is still a need to raise awareness about VAW, and commit to efforts to establish effective intervention and prevention approaches.