Jiwani, Yasmin. “The 1999 General Social Survey on Spousal Violence: An Analysis.” Canadian Woman Studies/ les cahiers de la femme, vol. 20, no. 3 (2001): 34-40.
Jiwani, Yasmin. “Erasing Race: The Story of Reena Virk.” Canadian Woman Studies/ les cahiers de la femme, vol.19, no. 3 (1999): 178-184.
Study Questions
1. What dangers lie in the use of the General Social Survey (GSS) on spousal violence? What did the GSS reveal?
2. How does the GSS differ from the VAWS and other previous surveys of violence against women?
3. What crucial element is missing from the GSS questions?
4. What are the important differences in the types of violence experienced by women and men? According to the GSS, which gender experiences more emotional abuse?
5. What might the high rates of violence reported by men indicate?
6. What might the declining rates of violence against women indicate?
7. What issues did media focus on after Reena Virk’s murder?
8. Why was it easy to overlook the racial dimension in Reena Virk’s murder?
