Susan Brison (Dartmouth College)
Gender-based Violence and Epistemic Injustice
Abstract
The claim that violently misogynistic pornography (abuse porn) causes gender-based violence (GBV) is controversial and notoriously resistant to empirical confirmation or disconfirmation. In this talk, I begin with the more generally accepted claim that GBV exists—and is a big problem—and ask: How does the existence of abuse porn—and its spillover into mainstream entertainment—affect those who have been victims of GBV and those who, at least some of the time, live in fear of it? I argue that the prevalence of abuse porn further victimizes survivors of GBV by subjecting them to testimonial and hermeneutical injustice.
