Extending women's voice through innovative methods: Lessons from struggles for democracy in Hong Kong

Abstract

This chapter will draw on the authors’ experiences and observations made during Hong Kong’s recent pro-democracy protests to examine how violence and the gender regime interrelate. It attempts to capture some of our thinking regarding a number of questions: who are victims of gender-based violence and who are possibly not? How can we identify and recognise the suffering of those who cannot even claim to be victims? How can we address the overlooked injustices embedded in marginalised victimhoods? What justifications are there for violent resistance in the form of self-defence and retaliation? By unpacking the politics of victimhood, we make the case that constructions of ‘ideal victimhood’ can marginalise some women’s experiences of violence. The blurred boundary between victim-survivors and non-victim-survivors also challenges the researcher-researched distinction and mandates methodological innovation in favour of more ‘engaged research’, through which researchers are meant to unsettle and challenge hierarchies and extend women’s voice through democratic knowledge production. At the end of the chapter, we will include some examples of our innovative methods/methodologies to demonstrate how research can be done ‘care’-fully to pursue situated gender justice.