Violence Against Women in Sierra Leone
Grace Amie Harman
Sachbuch / Gesellschaft
Beschreibung
Master's Thesis from the year 2018 in the subject Gender Studies, grade: A, , course: MPhil Gender Studies, language: English, abstract: The study examines violence against women from the angle of intimate partner violence and was undertaken in Kambia and Moyamba Districts of Sierra Leone. The rate of violence against women is high with five out of every ten women being abused by their intimate partners. The level of tolerance for such violence by women themselves is also alarming. The qualitative study investigated the possible underlying reasons behind this high prevalence as well the factors that place women in the position to tolerate violence. A case study method was applied using semi-structured interviews to collect primary data from 60 respondents, comprising 20 community leaders, 20 affected women and 20 women from peer groups of affected women, selected using purposive sampling. The research questioned the acceptable norms towards violence and how they are gendered; how the various forms of violence against women are manifested; the perspectives of men and women regarding intimate partner violence; and finally, the factors that place women in position to tolerate wife beating. The conceptual framework is based on the social ecological model propagated by Lori Heise which was used to examine the multiple levels of the causes and perpetuation of violence in intimate relationships. Key findings include the shared belief that women and men in the study area hold on women’s inferiority to men. Violence in general is not condoned in community settings. However intimate partner violence is seen as a private matter and sometimes deemed necessary treatment of women who fail to meet or outstep their expected gender roles as wives and mothers. Emotional violence is the most pervasive form of intimate partner violence. In general, affected women who tolerate violence have limited choices for opting out of the abusive relationship due mainly to large family size, their lack of autonomy and restrictive social norms related to marriage. Women tolerate abuse because of the shame associated with reporting it and rely instead on family mediation. In conclusion, I have proposed that women’s low resilience to challenge diverse external forces is the key factor for acceptance of partner violence, rather than her manipulation by external factors.
Kundenbewertungen
Violence Against Women, Intimate Partner Violence, Gender Based Violence