According to the author, "radical feminism" views "oppression against women as connecting with but not reducible to all other systemic oppressions and places special emphasis on the physical violation of Woman as Body." The central focus of this book is violence against women. One premise of the book is that women are violently reduced to bodies that are for men, and these bodies are further violated. A second premise is that violence is integral to the experience of being a women. A third premise is that extreme violence is the context in which other violence occurs and gives meaning to the other forms. The final premise is that all women are subject to extreme violence at some time or live with the threat of extreme violence. The author addresses childhood sexual abuse, rape, and battery continuums, as well as women's responses to this violence (depression, cutting, splitting, troubled eating, and protest). The book includes a detailed exploration of feminist ways of working with women, with attention to the specific needs of Native women, Jewish women, women with disabilities, prostitutes who are battered by pimps, women who self-mutilate, psychiatrized women, women with drinking problems, and women who are considering killing themselves. Each practice chapter is grounded in and includes reference to concrete interactions with clients. Suggested readings accompany the chapters.