Knowing what to do: Coping with sexual violence by male intimates

The purpose of the Heideggerian hermeneutical project,from which this artic le stems, was to describe women's experience of sexual violence by male int imates. Ten women who had encountered sexual violence by a male they knew w ell were interviewed about the effects of that experience on their everyday lives. The women described "knowing what to do" to manage their lives by u sing practical, everyday activities to cope with the violence. Their narrat ives were interpreted according to the Heideggerian concept of understandin g as know-how. For Heidegger, understanding is not a cognitive process; rat her, it is an implicit "knowing how" to do what is appropriate in each situ ation. Professionals who work with women who have experienced intimate sexu al violence should seek to understand the women's intuitive understanding o f what is possible and to appreciate the commonsense ways they cope with li fe in a violent world.