Making the personal political: understanding the impacts of participation in an anti-rape protest for women who have experienced sexual violence
- Authors: Barker, Kim Elise
- Date: 2023-03-29
- Subjects: Sexual assault South Africa , Silent protest , Under-reporting , Sexual abuse victims Attiudes , Narrative inquiry (Research method) , Rape Psychological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/422590 , vital:71960 , DOI 10.21504/10962/422590
- Description: South Africa is recognised as a country with unusually high levels of rape and sexual violence. The majority of those who experience sexual violence do not acknowledge, disclose or report it, and do not access support. Many factors have been identified which can inhibit acknowledgement and disclosure. While silence is to be honoured as a chosen response, unwanted silencing is of concern. The annual Silent Protest at Rhodes University is a day-long anti-rape protest which draws attention to the attitudes and practices which silence victim-survivors, and enacts solidarity with victim-survivors of sexual violence. I conducted a three year “critically engaged, activist ethnography” with the community of Silent Protestors and organisers. My focus was on the stories that victim-survivors told about the impacts of participating in the protest. Changes in the research context allowed for a participatory action research cycle to be incorporated into the methodology. This offered an opportunity to implement and evaluate some changes suggested by my research contributors. My contributor’s narratives highlighted the ways in which as a society we position those who have been subjected to sexual violence in ways that are limited and limiting and which diminish victim-survivors’ sense of agency and value. This malignant positioning restricts the choices available to victim-survivors. The anticipation of being positioned in negative ways can inhibit victim-survivors from disclosing a violation and accessing care and justice. Participation in the Silent Protest seems to stand against some of the factors which inhibit acknowledgement and disclosure. Through their participation many women took up opportunities to share their story with at least one other person and to receive and offer care. Most described participation as having been beneficial and having helped them move towards living well again. The ways in which the Silent Protest positioned victim-survivors and the choices they were offered in relation to that positioning seemed to open up opportunities for thinking, feeling and acting in ways that they preferred. This suggests that interventions which mobilise both political resistance and mutual care hold promise for developing more accessible and effective services to those affected by sexual violence. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2023
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- Date Issued: 2023-03-29
The narratives of women in South Africa who use social media to talk about gender-based violence
- Authors: Walton, Donica Jasmin
- Date: 2022-04-07
- Subjects: Women Violence against South Africa , Social media and society South Africa , Internet and activism South Africa , Discourse analysis, Narrative , Internet and women South Africa , Subject positions
- Language: English
- Type: Master's thesis , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/232590 , vital:50005
- Description: There has been research conducted, both globally and in South Africa, on social media activism against gender-based violence (GBV). However, most research on the topic is based on participants in other parts of the world. Not much has been published on Black, African women. More specifically, not much is known about how women in South Africa experience using social media to talk about GBV. This research project draws on critical feminism and a narrative-discursive approach to explore the narratives of women in South Africa who use social media to talk about GBV. This is done by identifying the discourses women draw on to construct narratives, the subject positions utilised within these discourses, and how “trouble” and “repair” features in the narratives and positioning of women. Twelve interviews were conducted with women who volunteered and fit the inclusion criteria. The analysis of data was presented in two parts. The first set of discourses (discourses of ‘efficacy’, ‘convenience’, and ‘education’) were focused on what the use of social media achieves irrespective of the topic being discussed. These discourses speak to the idea that social media is powerful and useful because of its reach, speed, immediacy, and ability to be used to educate and be educated. The second set of discourses (discourses of ‘community and solidarity’, ‘validation’, and ‘vulnerability’) were focused on what the use of social media does for the people participating. Women have found a community and solidarity, and their experiences and thoughts have been validated on social media. Overall, the women in this research project justified their use of social media for activism against GBV, and acknowledged the tension that exists because despite its potential, there are limitations. , Thesis (MSocSci) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2022
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- Date Issued: 2022-04-07
The construction and positioning of pregnant learners within contemporary South African legislation and policy
- Authors: Naidoo, Tashmin
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Pregnant teenagers Educational law and legislation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSoc. Sci (Psychology)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/16517 , vital:40727
- Description: In South Africa, nearly a third of women have children before they reach the age of 20, and basic education is compulsory until the age of 16. Many learners within the South African context continue to attend school until they are at least 20. Of all those teenage girls who fall pregnant, it is estimated that only around a third stay in school during their pregnancy and return following childbirth, with the highest return rate among those in Grade 12. As a result the government is committed to enforcing legislation and policy that protects and allows for pregnant learners to exercise their rights. The rationale of the study focuses on the fact that, rights-based documents are often at odds with the hierarchical spaces within schools. In practice, teachers and school managers continue to have the power to exclude pregnant learners. Although there is excellent legislation and progressive policy, these documents do not address the larger ideological landscape that impacts on the successful implementation of policy. Often policy is contradictory, ambiguous and draws on very conservative discourse. The aims of this study were to analyze the positioning of the pregnant learner within legislation and policy. A qualitative framework utilizing positioning theory was adopted in order to understand how the pregnant learner is positioned and constructed within relevant policy and legislation. This was accomplished by critically analyzing the discourses used within policy in order to tease out various themes or discourses, for example the pregnant learner as an ‘unfit mother’, as responsible, or as rights bearing etc. This was done in order to understand how the pregnant learner is positioned and what the implications of this positioning impose upon her life. The analysis suggests that pregnant learners are positioned as shifting ‘subjects’ in order to achieve very specific aims. The study established that their rights are not always absolute but contingent on other factors, that she is positioned as transitional, vulnerable, and rights-bearing and expected to be responsible. It is recommended that these policies be amended through a process of engagement with teachers and school management in order to ensure the rights of pregnant learners in schools.
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- Date Issued: 2019
A critical discourse analysis of the construction of adolescent-friendly services within training documents used by the National Adolescent-friendly Clinic Initiative in South Africa
- Authors: Ferrucci, Daniella
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Discourse analysis Teenagers Reproductive health
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSoc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/12722 , vital:39315
- Description: The objective of this study was to critically explore the construction of adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health and services within the South African National Adolescent-Friendly Clinic Initiative (NAFCI), by examining the training manuals and information booklets used to train the health service providers working within this programme. This was completed through the use of Foucauldian discourse analysis (FDA) and positioning theory. FDA was used to look for themes or discourses that emerged in the text, and to examine the role that power and language played in the talk around adolescent sexual and reproductive health. Positioning theory was used to explore the manner in which the young woman and health service provider were positioned within the documents, and the implications this had in relation to sexual and reproductive health and services. The discourses that emerged included discourses of risk, namely the “adolescent-in-transition” and the “sex-as-danger-and-disease” discourse; followed by the empowering discourse, the discourse of rights and responsibility, expert advice, and management and surveillance. These discourses generally depicted adolescent sexual and reproductive health in a mostly negative and problematic manner, which needed to be managed and governed by the more powerful and dominant medical expert. These discourses also positioned the young woman and the health care provider in contradictory ways. The young woman was either positioned as risk-seeking and problematic, due to her sexual behaviour, leaving her vulnerable in terms of her health and power; or she was positioned in a positive, healthy and responsible light. The health service provider was also positioned in contradictory ways. First she was positioned as an advisor and expert, due to her knowledge and skills; but then her position shifts into that a problem and a hindrance to accessing sexual and reproductive health services. The implications of these discourses serve to make sexual and reproductive healthcare a problem located within the individual. It fails to acknowledge the structural imbalances that are known to South Africa, but rather tries to construct it as a problem that needs to be managed by placing responsibility on the young woman and the health service providers.
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- Date Issued: 2018
A Cross-cultural analysis of the normative indicators of the Beck Depression Inventory II(BDI-II) and the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) amongst young adults in the Eastern Cape,South Africa
- Authors: Fourie, Claire https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0255-204X
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Stress (Psychology) , Depression, Mental
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/25117 , vital:63979
- Description: Mental illness rates are climbing, locally and globally. The World Health Organization (2001) has claimed that one in four people will be affected by a psychiatric disorder during their lifetime. With this in mind, there is an array of psychometric assessment measures that are used as tools to assist in the mental health care field. Two such measures are the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). These measures are used globally to assist with the diagnosis and treatment of depression and anxiety. However, in South Africa, a paucity of normative indicators exists. This research set out to determine if there are significant differences in performance on the BAI and BDI-II when comparing a sample from the Eastern Cape, South Africa, to the international norms. It was found that performances on the BAI between the local sample and the international sample did not differ significantly. The local sample, on average, performed 4.76 points lower on the BDI-II than those assessed in the international norms. A series of theoretical models are explored in elucidating the findings in this study. , Thesis (MSoc) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2018
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- Date Issued: 2018
A discourse analysis of the construction of gendered relationships in grade 10-12 Life Orientation textbooks in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Adams, Luvo
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Sex instruction -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Life skills -- Study and teaching (Secondary)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSoc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/5532 , vital:29315
- Description: School-based sexuality education has been the subject of research in the social sciences and pedagogical spheres globally. In South Africa, growing interest among social scientists in the topic, were ignited by the introduction of sexuality education as a compulsory part of Life Orientation (LO) by the late 1990s. However, the implementation of LO has been problematic. Reviewed literature in the current study, reveals how the dominance of the heterosex discourse is foregrounded in LO content on gender and sexuality. The current study was aimed at examining the construction of gendered relationships in LO textbooks. The study sampled LO textbooks for Grades 10-12, learners in these grades are between the mean ages 16-18 years. This group is the target group, because they are legally afforded the right to consent to sexual activity with peers, within the same age bracket. Conducted from a social constructionist perspective, the current study employed qualitative methods of inquiry (textual analysis). Against the backdrop of heterosexuality as norm, it was the aim of the current study to understand the subject positions made available for female learners to construct themselves, within the discursive spaces in LO content. Findings suggest that two discourses namely: the heterosex discourse and the discourse of danger and disease, dominate in LO content on gender and sexuality. This leads to the construction of gendered relationships a s inherently heterosexual, leading to the marginalisation of relationships that fall outside of the norm. The female learner is positioned as a passive-victim, incapable of exercising sexual agency, while young men are positioned as inherently more powerful members of the intimate relationships or dangerous sexual predators. In the discourse of danger and disease, she is also positioned as a potential victim but the focus is on equipping her with skills, in a way which positioned her as an active-resistor in refusing sexual activity; and being in control of decision-making on issues of safety in relationships. The implications of these contradictions, is that they focus on the individual and disallow her taking up of sexual agency, and disregard the context in which she has to do so.
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- Date Issued: 2017