Women’s Work: The ‘inescapable presence’ of intimate partner violence

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that one in three women have suffered as victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) (WHO 2021). These staggering statistics demand recalibrating the definition of ‘women's work’ to include dealing with IPV in all its forms. The term is commonly used in reference to the unpaid labour that a woman performs within the home - housekeeping, child rearing and domestic arts such as sewing, knitting, crochet and other craft activities.

‘Women's work’ is making professional, financial and interpersonal sacrifices due to household responsibilities; suffering at the hands of another physically, through weaponized incompetence or gaslighting; remaining silent because the odds are not in one's favour; and in many cases, fending for one's life. As a result of abuse, women lose access to their family, home, financial stability and professional advancement.

This article utilizes Sincavage's six-hour performance, Inescapable Presence, as a complex example of ‘women's work’. Centered on the interaction maneuvering within and around a massive garment made from crocheted contributions by women from around the world. In 2022, Sincavage performed the piece Inescapable Presence for Art in Odd Places, a public art festival, in New York City centred on 14th Street between Avenue C and the Hudson River. This roaming performance was broken into three chapters: a cry for help; creating visibility; and the burden of negotiating the aftermath.

The premise of the performance is to explore the manifestation of trauma within the survivor's body and how that directs relationships within a community, including an undercurrent of sadness now embedded within one's foundation despite surviving and leaving abuse.