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Social Sciences
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Zones of Violence: Mediating Gender, Power, and Place
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Zones of Violence: Mediating Gender, Power, and Place

A special issue of Social Sciences (ISSN 2076-0760). This special issue belongs to the section "Gender Studies".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 6132

Editor

Dr. Krista Mcqueeney

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Sociology, Criminology, and Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Whitewater, WI 53190-1790, USA
Interests: mass media; intersectionality; violence

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Gender-based violence is never confined to individual acts; it is spatial, political, and mediated. This Special Issue explores how violence against women and gender nonconforming folks is shaped by the geographies of consent, control, and abandonment. From private households where harm is silenced to public “zones of exception” where gendered bodies are criminalized, violence takes on multiple spatial logics. Media representations—from news coverage and documentaries to social media campaigns—mediate these spaces, amplifying some harms while rendering others invisible. Given this background, we invite contributions that interrogate how place, power, and representation intersect in the production of gender-based violence, as well as how survivors navigate, resist, and reconfigure these terrains. Submissions may draw from sociology, criminology, geography, media studies, gender and sexuality studies, law, and beyond.

Dr. Krista Mcqueeney
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Social Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • gender-based violence
  • intersectionality
  • spatial logics of violence
  • private/public spheres
  • victimhood narratives
  • power and place
  • media representation
  • criminalization of gendered bodies
  • abolitionist feminism
  • state violence
  • carceral feminism
  • survivor resistance
  • queer and trans experiences of violence
  • anti-trafficking discourse
  • moral panic

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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30 pages, 9286 KB  
Article
Juridical–Patriarchal Habitus: Invisibility of Moral Violence Based on Gender Against Women in the Legal Field of Queretaro, Mexico
by Karen-Edith Córdova-Esparza, Elvia-Izel Landaverde-Romero, Diana-Margarita Córdova-Esparza, Rocio-Edith López-Martínez and Teresa García-Ramírez
Soc. Sci. 2026, 15(6), 339; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci15060339 - 22 May 2026
Viewed by 259
Abstract
This article examines how justice institutions produce and reproduce gender-based violence against women through the invisibilization of moral violence, with particular attention to their spatial dimensions. Drawing on the concept of juridical–patriarchal habitus, the study conceptualizes justice institutions not only as sites of [...] Read more.
This article examines how justice institutions produce and reproduce gender-based violence against women through the invisibilization of moral violence, with particular attention to their spatial dimensions. Drawing on the concept of juridical–patriarchal habitus, the study conceptualizes justice institutions not only as sites of legal action but as spatial formations that shape the visibility, recognition, and adjudication of harm. Using a feminist ethnographic approach, the article analyzes two cases of gender-based violence documented in 2020 in the municipality of Querétaro, Mexico. The findings demonstrate how movement into legal and institutional spaces transforms lived experiences of violence, as procedural requirements, evidentiary expectations, and institutional interactions operate as spatial filters that render certain forms of harm visible while obscuring others. In this process, justice actors construct and reproduce gendered stereotypes about what counts as violence, simultaneously positioning women as victims and subjecting them to processes of revictimization. By conceptualizing the invisibility of moral violence as a spatially mediated process, the article contributes to debates in legal and feminist geography, highlighting how institutional spaces not only respond to gender-based violence but actively participate in its production and concealment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Zones of Violence: Mediating Gender, Power, and Place)
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21 pages, 485 KB  
Article
From Private Trouble to Collective Concern: A Corpus-Based Analysis of Intimate Partner Violence in China News Media
by Shuai Liu, Fang Geng and Zi Yang
Soc. Sci. 2026, 15(3), 190; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci15030190 - 16 Mar 2026
Viewed by 763
Abstract
Intimate partner violence (IPV) remains understudied in China despite its public health significance. Previous research lacks comprehensive analysis of how Chinese media frames this issue, creating a gap in understanding the sociocultural factors shaping public discourse. This study employs corpus-based framing analysis of [...] Read more.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) remains understudied in China despite its public health significance. Previous research lacks comprehensive analysis of how Chinese media frames this issue, creating a gap in understanding the sociocultural factors shaping public discourse. This study employs corpus-based framing analysis of 603 news articles (435,581 words) from major Chinese newspapers spanning 2012–2022, a period encompassing significant legal developments including the 2016 Domestic Violence Law. We analyze how IPV is framed through examination of keyword frequencies, collocation patterns, and concordance analysis. Our findings reveal that IPV is predominantly framed as matrimonial conflict and family dispute rather than criminal violence requiring state intervention. We argue that framing IPV as a ‘family issue’ operates as a spatial containment strategy, relocating violence to the domestic sphere while rerouting intervention into administrative/civil channels rather than criminal accountability spaces. Our findings reveal significant imbalances in stakeholder representation, with government and legal voices dominating the public discourse domain while community support organizations are marginalized. Source attribution patterns produce uneven zones of legitimacy, where state actors occupy authorized public space while survivors’ experiences remain confined to private, silenced domains. This research enhances the understanding of IPV media coverage in China while highlighting the need for more inclusive public discourse. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Zones of Violence: Mediating Gender, Power, and Place)
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25 pages, 1334 KB  
Article
Child Advocacy Workers’ Accounts of the Connections Between Pornography and Child Sexual Abuse
by Matthew B. Ezzell, Sarah Aadahl, Ana J. Bridges, Jennifer A. Johnson, Elizabeth Hodges and Chyng-Feng Sun
Soc. Sci. 2026, 15(2), 77; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci15020077 - 30 Jan 2026
Viewed by 3886
Abstract
This study analyzes the perspectives of support providers to survivors of child sexual abuse (CSA) on the potential links between pornography and the sexual abuse of children. Drawing from fifty interviews, eight focus group discussions, and post-interview surveys with frontline child advocacy support [...] Read more.
This study analyzes the perspectives of support providers to survivors of child sexual abuse (CSA) on the potential links between pornography and the sexual abuse of children. Drawing from fifty interviews, eight focus group discussions, and post-interview surveys with frontline child advocacy support professionals from various backgrounds and settings, each with at least five years of experience in the field, this paper presents a conceptual model that situates pornography and CSA within interconnected “zones of violence” across digital, institutional, and community environments. Participants identified overlapping risk factors that can heighten pornography exposure and CSA vulnerability, including strained guardian–child relationships, inadequate supervision and digital literacy, socioeconomic precarity, limited access to services, and restrictive or patriarchal sexual norms. They described mediating processes linking pornography to abuse—social modeling, normalization of coercive and violent sexual scripts, grooming, power/threat dynamics (including sextortion and blackmail), and the production and circulation of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Respondents perceived pornography as pervasive in young people’s lives, reported that it contributes to perceived shifts in CSA patterns, and emphasized the absence of best practices. They advocated comprehensive, digitally literate sex education; routine, developmentally appropriate screening; trauma-informed responses that avoid labeling and criminalizing children; and coordinated, multidisciplinary reforms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Zones of Violence: Mediating Gender, Power, and Place)
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Review

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24 pages, 602 KB  
Review
Zones of Exception in Extractive Spaces: A Scoping Review of Oilfield Masculinities, Moral Injury, and Gender-Based Violence in the Oilfields
by Braveheart Gillani, Meagan Ray Novak, Terrique Morris and David Crampton
Soc. Sci. 2026, 15(4), 257; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci15040257 - 17 Apr 2026
Viewed by 426
Abstract
Oilfield worksites and the communities shaped by them are increasingly recognized as gendered spaces in which rotational labor, contractor hierarchies, and production imperatives can reshape norms of accountability and consent. This scoping review synthesizes conceptualizations of oilfield masculinities in scholarship on oil and [...] Read more.
Oilfield worksites and the communities shaped by them are increasingly recognized as gendered spaces in which rotational labor, contractor hierarchies, and production imperatives can reshape norms of accountability and consent. This scoping review synthesizes conceptualizations of oilfield masculinities in scholarship on oil and gas extraction and examines their links to gendered harm, moral strain, and institutional accountability. Following PRISMA-ScR guidance, multidisciplinary databases were searched for English-language publications (2000–March 2024); eighteen sources met the inclusion criteria. A supplementary media scan (2000–2025) was conducted to contextualize cultural narratives surrounding oilfield labor. The synthesis identifies recurring themes, including frontier and breadwinner masculinities, emerging safety-oriented masculinities, gendered workplace exclusion, and the relational impacts of rotational absence and reintegration. Across studies, harms are most consistently described as patterned outcomes of work organization and fragmented governance rather than isolated incidents. Media representations frequently amplify heroism and endurance while minimizing institutional responsibility. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Zones of Violence: Mediating Gender, Power, and Place)
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