Opening doors: Women's participation in feminist studies about domestic violence

Qualitative research into sensitive and emotionally laden topics can pose a number of challenges for researchers. This paper presents reflections from two social work researchers who have led multiple feminist-based qualitative research studies about research participation enabling positive experiences for women who have survived domestic violence. It is argued, women can identify new insights, find alternative ways of looking at their experiences, and access opportunities to debrief in a unique way in the research interview setting that differs from counselling experiences. The authors use the metaphor of ‘opening doors’ to show how women construct their research participation experience in similar ways and how researchers can draw on social work skills to enhance positive experiences for women.