A Systematic Review of Gender Bias in National Domestic Violence Resources

Domestic violence is a detrimental social issue that has been linked to negative physical and mental health consequences (e.g., Coker et al., 2002; Johnson, 2017; LaVan, Lopez, Katz, & Martin, 2012; Ortiz, 2019; Thornton 2014). Because domestic violence is often regarded as an issue that primarily affects women (e.g., increased prevalence of female victims), gender bias in the targeted marketing of domestic violence resources can occur. The present study evaluated online resources that target domestic violence survivors.  Using set criterion, 50 domestic violence state coalition websites were reviewed to determine: a) What, if any, gender markers are used to target individuals? and; b) Are identified gender markers used within online domestic violence resources gender-specific? Visual content analysis was used to determine gender neutral content, categories for gender representation (e.g., statistics, gender language, visual content), and color scheme.
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