The intricate interplay between victimization and agency: reflections on the experiences of women who face partner violence in Mexico

Abstract

This article is based on qualitative research in Mexico City focused on low-income women who face intimate partner violence. It is in line with works that question, through the lens of intersectionality, the false opposition between agency and victimization observed in a large proportion of literature on intimate partner violence. The investigation analyzes the women's descriptions of the everyday forms of resistance they use to survive alongside their aggressors. Our results demonstrate that, through different resistance strategies, they exert different forms of agency that are, or can be, a way of questioning male domination, and can lead to a more open demand for rights, if adequate social and institutional conditions are met.