Rural Woman Abuse: The Voices of Kentucky Women

Using an ethnographic method that relies heavily on 85 in-depth interviews, 50 of them with rural battered women, this article provides rich empirical data on the much-neglected topic of rural woman abuse in Kentucky. My interviews indicate women experience a considerable amount of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse by their husbands or partners. I contextualize this intimate violence against the physical and social isolation that characterizes the lives of many rural battered women. The article concludes with a discussion of how rural patriarchy necessitates certain social policy initiatives.