WORKER COOPERATIVES ARE A FEMINIST ECONOMICS SOLUTION TO INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE

Intimate Partner Violence

• includes physical, emotional, financial, sexual abuse. behavior based on one partner controlling the other
• very prevalent in the U.S.

Intimate Partner Violence

• At least half of couples with a woman identified partner experience violence
• 4 million women are beaten annually
• The majority of homicides are women and the majority of these women are killed by their partner.

There is no free market.

• neoclassical economics: non-discriminatory free market

Neoclassical and Neoliberal Economics

• "free" market
• develop from systems that entrench gender norms
• the loss of middle class jobs threatens men's ability to provide for their family, which threatens their masculinity. Many resort to hyper masculine behaviors in other areas of their live, like beating their partner.

Bad jobs

• neoclassical and neoliberal markets position women in more low income jobs with unstable schedules and poor benefits.(6/10 impoverished adults are women)
• Makes women more dependnt on their partners
• Its really hard to leave an abusive situation without money
• abusers often inerupt work

feminist economics

• restructures the notion of unbiased markets, looks at power and gender
• "Women's property ownership directly reduces their chances of being abused"

The Law Is Not Enough

• The anti-dv movement has focused on law creation to reduce dv.
• In the employment context, Title VII, OSHA, FMLA do not address intimate partner violence directly
• States have created some important laws

laws aren't enough

• but these laws still operate off assumptions of a free, neutral market
• *need to do more brain work here

What do we do then?

• therefore we need other solutions that address the economic causes of intimate partner violence

Worker Cooperatives

• worker democratic governance
• co ops meet the needs that traditional economics and biased laws fail women on

Law and Organizing to Develop Co-ops

• define law and organizing
• *need to insert an example into paper