Deafening Silence
Hidden Violence Against Women and Children

Analyses male violence against women and children, and the mechanisms society develops to push it out of sight. This text describes the links between discrimination, violence against women and violence against children, and uncovers the strategies and tactics used to conceal it.

This book is born of a contradiction: on the one hand, there has been a genuine advance in the awareness of male violence and actions to oppose it. On the other, male violence against women persists. So too does its denial, and the counter-attack against those who seek to expose it. Patrizia Romito's extraordinary book analyses male violence against women and children, and the mechanisms society develops to push it out of sight. It describes the links between discrimination, violence against women and violence against children, and uncovers the strategies and tactics used to conceal it, including denial, legitimization, euphemisation, blaming the victim and compartmentalisation.Written in a clear and direct style, the author offers both a synthesis of recent international data and a theoretical analysis of the mechanisms of concealment. It is an essential tool for anyone - professional, researcher or activist - wanting to understand male violence against women and children and to oppose it.

Introduction
Violence and discrimination against women
The theoretical context
Tactics for hiding male violence
Hiding strategies
Conclusions.