Beyond Saving: A Case For Agency-First Approach Against Domestic Violence

This note presents an analysis of videos containing narrative stories of eight women in Nepal who had experienced domestic violence. The analysis highlights multifaceted issues and dependencies that coerced the survivors(1) to stay in the abusive environment. Further, we present cases where the legal system failed to support the survivor because it overlooked the survivor's unique and complex situation. We contrast those cases with agency-supporting cases where the survivors had more control and could decide when and how they wanted to engage resources. We argue that designed systems, whether they be technologies or public policies, need to support the survivor's agency rather than seeing them as victims needing to be saved.