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
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03-29
- 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
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03-29
Sexual socialisation: young adult women storying how sexual activities were discussed in South African cultural contexts
- Authors: Ludidi, Zizipho
- Date: 2022-04-07
- Subjects: Socialization South Africa , Sex Social aspects South Africa , Young women Socialization South Africa , Young women Sexual behavior South Africa , Culture , Memory , Narrative inquiry (Research method)
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/292737 , vital:57011
- Description: Epidemics such as HIV/AIDS, unplanned pregnancy, gender-based violence and homophobia, in South Africa, have focused research on how young people learn about sex. This research has often focused on young girls from risk-saturated areas, and specific agents of socialisation, where they might learn about sex, such as parents, life orientation at schools, peers, media, and traditional cultural approaches. Using a narrative theoretical framework, through memory work, this study explored how black young adult women friends – who were university students – experienced forms of sexual socialisation, through various communication in South African cultural contexts. Findings from the thematic narrative analysis that was conducted demonstrated that sexual socialisation is a complex life-long process. This takes place through a collision of contradictory messages, from different agents of socialisation, in different cultural contexts. Themes were identified and organised to tell an overall sexual socialisation story that progressed through time, moving from a stage of perceived innocent oblivion, mixed messages in primary and high school, “liberal” university stories and the current stage of reauthoring stories. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-07
- Authors: Ludidi, Zizipho
- Date: 2022-04-07
- Subjects: Socialization South Africa , Sex Social aspects South Africa , Young women Socialization South Africa , Young women Sexual behavior South Africa , Culture , Memory , Narrative inquiry (Research method)
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/292737 , vital:57011
- Description: Epidemics such as HIV/AIDS, unplanned pregnancy, gender-based violence and homophobia, in South Africa, have focused research on how young people learn about sex. This research has often focused on young girls from risk-saturated areas, and specific agents of socialisation, where they might learn about sex, such as parents, life orientation at schools, peers, media, and traditional cultural approaches. Using a narrative theoretical framework, through memory work, this study explored how black young adult women friends – who were university students – experienced forms of sexual socialisation, through various communication in South African cultural contexts. Findings from the thematic narrative analysis that was conducted demonstrated that sexual socialisation is a complex life-long process. This takes place through a collision of contradictory messages, from different agents of socialisation, in different cultural contexts. Themes were identified and organised to tell an overall sexual socialisation story that progressed through time, moving from a stage of perceived innocent oblivion, mixed messages in primary and high school, “liberal” university stories and the current stage of reauthoring stories. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-07
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