Interrogating gender, violence, and the state in national and transnational contexts: Framing the issues

In order to situate this monograph issue this introductory article starts with a brief, selective, and global overview of violence against women in diverse contexts, followed by the editors’ own approach on violence against women and the state. Focusing on cross-cutting themes, the introduction presents and discusses the articles included in this monograph, demonstrating the role of the state in addressing sexual violence and domestic or intimate-partner violence in neoliberal globalized societies around the world. By doing so, it problematizes state regulation of gender itself. Furthermore, it indicates some limitations but also possibilities of the forms of state involvement in addressing violence against women. The editors argue that the relationship of the state to violence against women is complicated, historical, and context contingent, with multiple implications for women’s lives, including barriers to citizenship. The interface with the transnational level is also examined, in terms of the influence of states beyond their borders, and transnational influences on state policies.