The paper conducts analysis of arenas where political intersectionality can play out in domestic violence politics. It looks at intersectionality through actor interaction, coalition building and alliance seeking in processes of developing domestic violence policy in five countries of Central and Eastern Europe. It first analyses coalition formation within women’s movements, the presence of intersectional women’s groups within the movement, relationship between those and mainstream women groups, and tensions between identity politics and diversity politics in policy advocacy. Second, it looks at interaction between movements and allies representing women’s interests within the state (women’s policy agencies, femocrats, elected women MPs), how alliances bring in intersections between gender and other inequalities and shape the policy agenda. Third, interaction between women’s movements and other (non-feminist) allies in the non-governmental arena will be examined with emphasis on strategic alliances, their potential for inclusive intersectionality versus their risk of coopting gender.
