Type:	Journal Article
Title:	The framing safety project: photographs and narratives by battered women
Other Titles:	Violence against women
Authors:	Frohmann, Lisa
Keywords:	Community education;CALD (culturally and linguistically diverse);Refugee communities
Year:	2005
Publisher:	Sage Publications
Citation:	11 (11), November 2005
Notes:	This article describes the Framing Safety Project developed in the US to do collaborative, community action or education research with battered women on the meaning of safety. It is based on the use of participant-generated photographs and photo-elicitation interviews as methods for exploring the meanings of violence in women’s lives, in support group settings. It combines a feminist approach that leads from the women’s photography and interviews to community education and social action. Mexican and South Asian immigrant women participated in the project. Participant-generated images give an opportunity for silenced populations to document their lives and the environments they live in. The traditional power imbalance between photographer or researcher and subject is broken down, with the interviewer no longer directing the conversation or interview by determining the questions or what information are important. By combining participant-generated images and photo-elicitation interviews, the women are empowered by enabling them to choose the subjects of the photographs and determine what or who to include or exclude. At the beginning of the interview, the women are asked to arrange the photographs in groups meaningful to them by story lines or themes. It is a way for them to tap into the subjectivity of their battering experiences and gives them a chance to shift their orientations to specific settings to become observers. This shift could assist women to see aspects of their lives previously unrecognised, and the power of this knowledge and insight may lead to change. It is suggested that these methods could then facilitate the healing process. The second phase of the project invites participants to create a photography exhibit of their images and narratives in order to give public voice to their experiences and to educate the community. Each opening has been done with a public community education event. The third phase is the research – all participants were invited to participate in an in-depth life history interview about the violence in their lives and their safekeeping strategies. Narratives were also documented. Participants photographed safety strategies that included zones of safety (bathroom and bedrooms where they sought refuge from the battering and lookout posts to watch for impending violence). Others documented preparations for leaving. To show a change in their lives, women took pictures of educational institutions, or smiling faces of their children.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/12546
ISSN:	1077-8012
Appears in Collections:	Journal Articles

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