Intersectionality and Multiple Inequalities: Visibility in British Policy on Violence Against Women

Intersectionalities have long been theorised. It is time to move on to empirical testing of intersectionality theory in order to develop it further. The paper analyses visibility of multiple intersecting inequalities in policy on violence against women in Britain. It finds and develops a continuum of inclusion of multiple inequalities to analyse visibility in policy, ranging from the simple naming of inequalities, the intersection of inequalities, and fields of violence and policy domains, to the inclusion of the voices of minoritised women. It is proposed that while recognition of intersectionality is required for good quality policy, it is the way in which this is achieved that is particularly important. We argue that the implications of previous research that finds silencing of groups positioned at the point of intersection of two or more inequalities and invisibility of multiple inequalities in policy need to be re-thought. Previous research showing silencing and invisibility is based on a too narrow understanding of the concept of intersectionality and has not taken sufficiently into account the implications of the politico-discursive process of degendering.