A discourse analysis study of traditional health practitioners’ role in the treatment of female sexual violence and its mental health sequelae in KwaZulu-Natal
- Authors: Muthwa, Nqobile
- Date: 2024-04
- Subjects: Women -- Violence against -- South Africa , Sex discrimination against women -- South Africa , Physicians -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/63904 , vital:73625
- Description: South Africa is considered the epicentre of rape, leading to its reputation as the ‘rape capital of the world’. As a way of mitigating the risk of re-victimisation to individuals who have experienced rape, hospital-based post-rape centres were developed to offer services and support to rape victims. The uptake of these services remains scant as issues such as rape stigma, limited knowledge on their availability and alternative health systems limits their usage. In South Africa, there exists medical pluralism, which refers to multiple ways of making sense of illness and treatment seeking methods. It is estimated that around 80% of South Africans utilise the services of traditional health practitioners in conjunction with biomedical health practices or as a standalone service to get alternative solutions for their health needs. Victims of rape need to access a wide range of services such as post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), medical examinations, and emergency contraception. There has been a paucity in research looking into the alternative treatments accessed by rape victims who do not access services in the formal healthcare system. It is against this backdrop that this study explored the construction and treatment formulation of rape by traditional health practitioners. The study focused on the use of language and how it becomes action that influences the services rendered to rape victims. Thematic analysis, discourse and conversational analytical approaches were used to analyse data that emerges from the one-on-one interviews. 15 traditional healers who identified as abathandazi, Izangoma and izinyanga were selected to participate in the present study. The healthworlds framework and social constructionism were used to make sense of how traditional health practitioners construct rape and how the dominant discourses surrounding rape influence how they understand their position as healthcare providers. The main findings of the study illustrated that in the healthworld of traditional healers’ understanding of rape was constructed as ukungcola nobumnyama / impurity and darkness. These discourses spoke to the perception of rape as an aberration as one’s ancestors should prevent traumas and catastrophes from befalling on the individual. When rape occurs, it signalled spiritual problems resulting into a phenomenon where ancestors cannot safeguard the living. Under these discourse rape was also constructed as something that taints, impurifies and contaminates not just the raped individual but their entire bloodline and ancestors. As a result of the discourse surrounding rape, cleansing and purification rituals played a huge role in post-rape care. In addition, traditional health practitioners viewed their role as facilitators in reestablishing the relationship between the raped individual and their ancestors. The study observed that rape victims who share the same healthworld are likely to experience spiritual transgressions following rape which will have long-lasting effects on the psychological health outcomes of victims. The present study recommends a post-rape care model that advocates for collaborative opportunities between biomedical and traditional healthcare practitioners. This model can be integrated into existing post-rape care systems to provide holistic and comprehensive healthcare that addresses biopsychosocial as well as the spiritual and cultural influences of rape. , Thesis (DPhil) -- Faculty of Health Science, School of Behavioural & Lifestyle Sciences, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-04
- Authors: Muthwa, Nqobile
- Date: 2024-04
- Subjects: Women -- Violence against -- South Africa , Sex discrimination against women -- South Africa , Physicians -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/63904 , vital:73625
- Description: South Africa is considered the epicentre of rape, leading to its reputation as the ‘rape capital of the world’. As a way of mitigating the risk of re-victimisation to individuals who have experienced rape, hospital-based post-rape centres were developed to offer services and support to rape victims. The uptake of these services remains scant as issues such as rape stigma, limited knowledge on their availability and alternative health systems limits their usage. In South Africa, there exists medical pluralism, which refers to multiple ways of making sense of illness and treatment seeking methods. It is estimated that around 80% of South Africans utilise the services of traditional health practitioners in conjunction with biomedical health practices or as a standalone service to get alternative solutions for their health needs. Victims of rape need to access a wide range of services such as post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), medical examinations, and emergency contraception. There has been a paucity in research looking into the alternative treatments accessed by rape victims who do not access services in the formal healthcare system. It is against this backdrop that this study explored the construction and treatment formulation of rape by traditional health practitioners. The study focused on the use of language and how it becomes action that influences the services rendered to rape victims. Thematic analysis, discourse and conversational analytical approaches were used to analyse data that emerges from the one-on-one interviews. 15 traditional healers who identified as abathandazi, Izangoma and izinyanga were selected to participate in the present study. The healthworlds framework and social constructionism were used to make sense of how traditional health practitioners construct rape and how the dominant discourses surrounding rape influence how they understand their position as healthcare providers. The main findings of the study illustrated that in the healthworld of traditional healers’ understanding of rape was constructed as ukungcola nobumnyama / impurity and darkness. These discourses spoke to the perception of rape as an aberration as one’s ancestors should prevent traumas and catastrophes from befalling on the individual. When rape occurs, it signalled spiritual problems resulting into a phenomenon where ancestors cannot safeguard the living. Under these discourse rape was also constructed as something that taints, impurifies and contaminates not just the raped individual but their entire bloodline and ancestors. As a result of the discourse surrounding rape, cleansing and purification rituals played a huge role in post-rape care. In addition, traditional health practitioners viewed their role as facilitators in reestablishing the relationship between the raped individual and their ancestors. The study observed that rape victims who share the same healthworld are likely to experience spiritual transgressions following rape which will have long-lasting effects on the psychological health outcomes of victims. The present study recommends a post-rape care model that advocates for collaborative opportunities between biomedical and traditional healthcare practitioners. This model can be integrated into existing post-rape care systems to provide holistic and comprehensive healthcare that addresses biopsychosocial as well as the spiritual and cultural influences of rape. , Thesis (DPhil) -- Faculty of Health Science, School of Behavioural & Lifestyle Sciences, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-04
A q-metholological approach to audience reception of public awareness messages on sexual violence
- Authors: Bennie, Rachel
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Psychology -- Research -- Methodology , Psychology -- Research , Communication in social action -- South Africa , Psychology -- Research -- South Africa , Women -- Violence against -- South Africa , Women -- Violence against -- South Africa -- Prevention
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140805 , vital:37920
- Description: Public awareness poster campaigns are an often-used method for raising awareness about, and engaging audiences on the topic of rape and other forms of sexual violence (Potter, 2012). However, poster campaigns, as social artefacts, operate in a public arena in which numerous discourses about a phenomenon are produced, reproduced and interact with each other, with sometimes unintended/unanticipated discursive consequences (Böhmke, Bennie, Minnie, Moore, Pilusa & Pollock, 2015). How messages aimed at raising awareness of sexual violence are framed has the potential to reproduce dominant social narratives and gendered subject positions in ways that reinforce notions of men as active sexual agents and potential perpetrators, and women as sexually passive and potential victims (Gavey, 2005). Other approaches, such as bystander intervention, seek to move away from a focus on victims and perpetrators to emphasise the role that community members can play in risk detection, safety promotion and the prevention of sexual violence (McMahon & Banyard, 2012). Since a range of possible messages about sexual violence can be communicated through poster campaigns, it is important to critically examine the content and orientation of campaign material. This study focused on intended audience views regarding messages about sexual violence contained in anti-sexual violence poster materials. The purpose was to collaborate with a selected audience to better understand which messages are effective and which strategies of communication are perceived to be less so. Through the use of Q-methodology, volunteer participants were invited to express their opinions in relation to messages about sexual violence from a range of posters from several international campaigns. The analysis focused on uncovering the discursive subject positions that participants’ express in their attitudinal responses to the poster messages, providing not only a description of these positions, but also illustrating the level of resonance that the poster messages may find with intended audiences. The aim of the study is to potentially inform the development of more focused campaign material, tailored to the specific context from which participants were drawn. Analysis shows clear patterns of audience resistance towards stereotypical representations of sexual violence and messages that are geared towards the simple prohibition of behaviours. The findings highlight the need for the development of alternative strategies of engagement that focus on specific engagement with understandings of sexual violence in the context of intimate and/or acquaintance relationships and which are aimed at inviting audiences to take up a position in relation to sexual violence phenomena that troubles the reproduction of received notions of gendered subjectivities and (hetero) sexuality
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Bennie, Rachel
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Psychology -- Research -- Methodology , Psychology -- Research , Communication in social action -- South Africa , Psychology -- Research -- South Africa , Women -- Violence against -- South Africa , Women -- Violence against -- South Africa -- Prevention
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140805 , vital:37920
- Description: Public awareness poster campaigns are an often-used method for raising awareness about, and engaging audiences on the topic of rape and other forms of sexual violence (Potter, 2012). However, poster campaigns, as social artefacts, operate in a public arena in which numerous discourses about a phenomenon are produced, reproduced and interact with each other, with sometimes unintended/unanticipated discursive consequences (Böhmke, Bennie, Minnie, Moore, Pilusa & Pollock, 2015). How messages aimed at raising awareness of sexual violence are framed has the potential to reproduce dominant social narratives and gendered subject positions in ways that reinforce notions of men as active sexual agents and potential perpetrators, and women as sexually passive and potential victims (Gavey, 2005). Other approaches, such as bystander intervention, seek to move away from a focus on victims and perpetrators to emphasise the role that community members can play in risk detection, safety promotion and the prevention of sexual violence (McMahon & Banyard, 2012). Since a range of possible messages about sexual violence can be communicated through poster campaigns, it is important to critically examine the content and orientation of campaign material. This study focused on intended audience views regarding messages about sexual violence contained in anti-sexual violence poster materials. The purpose was to collaborate with a selected audience to better understand which messages are effective and which strategies of communication are perceived to be less so. Through the use of Q-methodology, volunteer participants were invited to express their opinions in relation to messages about sexual violence from a range of posters from several international campaigns. The analysis focused on uncovering the discursive subject positions that participants’ express in their attitudinal responses to the poster messages, providing not only a description of these positions, but also illustrating the level of resonance that the poster messages may find with intended audiences. The aim of the study is to potentially inform the development of more focused campaign material, tailored to the specific context from which participants were drawn. Analysis shows clear patterns of audience resistance towards stereotypical representations of sexual violence and messages that are geared towards the simple prohibition of behaviours. The findings highlight the need for the development of alternative strategies of engagement that focus on specific engagement with understandings of sexual violence in the context of intimate and/or acquaintance relationships and which are aimed at inviting audiences to take up a position in relation to sexual violence phenomena that troubles the reproduction of received notions of gendered subjectivities and (hetero) sexuality
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Re-adjustment of masculinities and sexualities amongst first year male students at Rhodes University in the wake of the residence Consent Talk’s programme
- Authors: Ntisana, Thulani
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Communication in higher education - South Africa -- Makhanda , Rape in universities and colleges -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Masculinity -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Male college students -- Social life and customs -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Male college students -- Sexual behavior -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Male college students -- Conduct of life -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Men -- Identity , Male domination (Social structure) , Patriarchy -- South Africa , Women -- Violence against -- South Africa , Social problems -- South Africa , Consent Talks , #RUreferencelist
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/148956 , vital:38790
- Description: This study seeks to understand how Rhodes University first-year male students adjusted and re-adjusted their masculinities and sexualities in light of the Consent Talk programme offered by the university, the aim of which is to liberate masculinities and femininities from patriarchal and dominant discourses. In the past 26 years, South Africa has seen an increase in academic research establishing causal links between boys, men, masculinities and a number of social ills such as the HIV/AIDs epidemic, violence against women, substance abuse, homophobia, gender-based violence and a lower pass rate amongst boys. This in turn inspired an increase in interventions seeking to involve boys and men in order to identify and address their role in combating gender based violence. These various forms of social deviances that have been linked to masculinity have indicated that young men's masculinity is in crisis and as a result needs great attention in order to address the social issues linked to them. Institutions of higher learning have proven to be microcosms of the larger society. Universities have become highly sexualised spaces; coercive sexual practices in heterosexual relationships are a norm, young women don't feel safe and have lost confidence in universities addressing their concerns. With the emergence of the #RUreferencelist in 2016, the spotlight fell on Rhodes University; young women challenged the rape culture and sexual assaults on campus. In 2016, staff members who are well-informed and educated on issues of gender, sexuality and rape initiated discussions with students in their residences; these discussions were later to be called the Consent Talks. This research makes use of Pierre Bourdieu’s critical theory in understanding how young men negotiate their masculinity within the field of higher education, at Rhodes University. Bourdieu’s three main concepts, field, habitus and capital are used to describe how young men negotiate their masculinity and how the field of gender intersects with the field of higher education. A qualitative paradigm has been employed. The study has collected data through the use of in-depth interviews to get a richer insight into the participants’ perspectives. There were 15 interviews conducted in total for this study, 14 were with first year male students, and one with a senior official of the University. The data was analysed through a qualitative thematic analysis. The findings of the research reveal that some of the participants were exposed to patriarchal and dominant forms of masculinity when growing up. However, most of the participants revealed they were also exposed to alternative masculinities. These were either taught or learnt at home, from family members, circumcision school, church or peers in society. Both the dominant and alternative masculinities were revealed in the discourses of what it means to be a man and in how the young men performed their masculinities. Furthermore, one of the major themes that emerged was that most of the young men in the study were raised by single mothers with mothers playing a significant role in encouraging healthy masculinities. The findings went on to reveal that families (mothers, fathers, older siblings and culture) play a role in socialising and shaping healthy masculinities. The acceptance or rejection of either dominant or alternative masculinities was influenced by an exposure to an environment that either encouraged or shunned either dominant or alternative masculinities. The findings further unveils that different societies are strongly identified with their own definitions of what it means to be a man and are not open to other definitions of masculinity. Moreover, most of the participants accepted the content of what was taught in the Consent Talks; however sought healthy participation, interaction and inclusion of female students. Lastly, the study has also revealed that knowledge of the consequences of breaking (the law) university’s policy does affect some change of behaviour in potential perpetrators.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Ntisana, Thulani
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Communication in higher education - South Africa -- Makhanda , Rape in universities and colleges -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Masculinity -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Male college students -- Social life and customs -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Male college students -- Sexual behavior -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Male college students -- Conduct of life -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Men -- Identity , Male domination (Social structure) , Patriarchy -- South Africa , Women -- Violence against -- South Africa , Social problems -- South Africa , Consent Talks , #RUreferencelist
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/148956 , vital:38790
- Description: This study seeks to understand how Rhodes University first-year male students adjusted and re-adjusted their masculinities and sexualities in light of the Consent Talk programme offered by the university, the aim of which is to liberate masculinities and femininities from patriarchal and dominant discourses. In the past 26 years, South Africa has seen an increase in academic research establishing causal links between boys, men, masculinities and a number of social ills such as the HIV/AIDs epidemic, violence against women, substance abuse, homophobia, gender-based violence and a lower pass rate amongst boys. This in turn inspired an increase in interventions seeking to involve boys and men in order to identify and address their role in combating gender based violence. These various forms of social deviances that have been linked to masculinity have indicated that young men's masculinity is in crisis and as a result needs great attention in order to address the social issues linked to them. Institutions of higher learning have proven to be microcosms of the larger society. Universities have become highly sexualised spaces; coercive sexual practices in heterosexual relationships are a norm, young women don't feel safe and have lost confidence in universities addressing their concerns. With the emergence of the #RUreferencelist in 2016, the spotlight fell on Rhodes University; young women challenged the rape culture and sexual assaults on campus. In 2016, staff members who are well-informed and educated on issues of gender, sexuality and rape initiated discussions with students in their residences; these discussions were later to be called the Consent Talks. This research makes use of Pierre Bourdieu’s critical theory in understanding how young men negotiate their masculinity within the field of higher education, at Rhodes University. Bourdieu’s three main concepts, field, habitus and capital are used to describe how young men negotiate their masculinity and how the field of gender intersects with the field of higher education. A qualitative paradigm has been employed. The study has collected data through the use of in-depth interviews to get a richer insight into the participants’ perspectives. There were 15 interviews conducted in total for this study, 14 were with first year male students, and one with a senior official of the University. The data was analysed through a qualitative thematic analysis. The findings of the research reveal that some of the participants were exposed to patriarchal and dominant forms of masculinity when growing up. However, most of the participants revealed they were also exposed to alternative masculinities. These were either taught or learnt at home, from family members, circumcision school, church or peers in society. Both the dominant and alternative masculinities were revealed in the discourses of what it means to be a man and in how the young men performed their masculinities. Furthermore, one of the major themes that emerged was that most of the young men in the study were raised by single mothers with mothers playing a significant role in encouraging healthy masculinities. The findings went on to reveal that families (mothers, fathers, older siblings and culture) play a role in socialising and shaping healthy masculinities. The acceptance or rejection of either dominant or alternative masculinities was influenced by an exposure to an environment that either encouraged or shunned either dominant or alternative masculinities. The findings further unveils that different societies are strongly identified with their own definitions of what it means to be a man and are not open to other definitions of masculinity. Moreover, most of the participants accepted the content of what was taught in the Consent Talks; however sought healthy participation, interaction and inclusion of female students. Lastly, the study has also revealed that knowledge of the consequences of breaking (the law) university’s policy does affect some change of behaviour in potential perpetrators.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
The meanings selected Rhodes University student-fans of hip-hop make of the gendered scenarios portrayed in designated South African commercial hip-hop music videos
- Mtengwa, Tamuka Phumelela Msawenkosi Misheck
- Authors: Mtengwa, Tamuka Phumelela Msawenkosi Misheck
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Hip-hop -- South Africa , Misogyny -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Rap (Music) -- South Africa , Rap (Music) -- Social aspects -- South Africa , Hip-hop -- Influence , Violence in music , Women -- Violence against -- South Africa , Rape culture -- South Africa , Rap music fans-- South Africa -- Makhanda , Misogyny in music , #RapeCultureMustFall , #RUReferenceList
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/148305 , vital:38728
- Description: Hip-hop is frequently linked to misogyny and other forms of violence. This link, in many instances, is often presented outside of a critical understanding of complex underlying societal and gender dynamics. South Africa’s high rates of violence against women make it necessary to understand how hip-hop videos interact with society, as hip-hop, in its commercial form, has become a growing music genre in South Africa. Rhodes University, which has a notable student following of hip-hop, has experienced concerning levels of gender-based tensions as evidenced by the rise of the “fallist” movement’s #RapeCultureMustFall, #RUReferenceList and the suicide of Khensani Maseko, at the instigation of an alleged incident of rape, perpetrated by her boyfriend and fellow student. It is therefore of interest to investigate how a select group of Rhodes University student-fans of hip-hop make meaning out of selected South African commercial hip-hop music videos. The hip-hop music videos chosen for the study, hence Pitbull Terrier (Die Antwoord), Pearl Thusi (Emtee), Dlala ka yona (L’Tido), All eyes on me (AKA featuring Burna Boy, Da L.E.S and JR) and Ragga Ragga (Gemini Major featuring Casper Nyovest, Riky Rick and Nadia Nakai), were selected on the strength of their popularity and uniquely gendered scenarios. This study draws on qualitative research methods, thus qualitative thematic content analysis, focus group and in-depth interviews. The study establishes that despite gender being a contentious issue at Rhodes University, students make meaning out of the gendered portrayals based on their own experiences, socialisation, cultural values and level of submission to the discourse of hip-hop. This study seeks to understand how selected student-fans of hip-hop read the gendered portrayals of the music videos, based on their own experiences, socialisation, cultural values, and level of submission to the discourse of hip-hop.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Mtengwa, Tamuka Phumelela Msawenkosi Misheck
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Hip-hop -- South Africa , Misogyny -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Rap (Music) -- South Africa , Rap (Music) -- Social aspects -- South Africa , Hip-hop -- Influence , Violence in music , Women -- Violence against -- South Africa , Rape culture -- South Africa , Rap music fans-- South Africa -- Makhanda , Misogyny in music , #RapeCultureMustFall , #RUReferenceList
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/148305 , vital:38728
- Description: Hip-hop is frequently linked to misogyny and other forms of violence. This link, in many instances, is often presented outside of a critical understanding of complex underlying societal and gender dynamics. South Africa’s high rates of violence against women make it necessary to understand how hip-hop videos interact with society, as hip-hop, in its commercial form, has become a growing music genre in South Africa. Rhodes University, which has a notable student following of hip-hop, has experienced concerning levels of gender-based tensions as evidenced by the rise of the “fallist” movement’s #RapeCultureMustFall, #RUReferenceList and the suicide of Khensani Maseko, at the instigation of an alleged incident of rape, perpetrated by her boyfriend and fellow student. It is therefore of interest to investigate how a select group of Rhodes University student-fans of hip-hop make meaning out of selected South African commercial hip-hop music videos. The hip-hop music videos chosen for the study, hence Pitbull Terrier (Die Antwoord), Pearl Thusi (Emtee), Dlala ka yona (L’Tido), All eyes on me (AKA featuring Burna Boy, Da L.E.S and JR) and Ragga Ragga (Gemini Major featuring Casper Nyovest, Riky Rick and Nadia Nakai), were selected on the strength of their popularity and uniquely gendered scenarios. This study draws on qualitative research methods, thus qualitative thematic content analysis, focus group and in-depth interviews. The study establishes that despite gender being a contentious issue at Rhodes University, students make meaning out of the gendered portrayals based on their own experiences, socialisation, cultural values and level of submission to the discourse of hip-hop. This study seeks to understand how selected student-fans of hip-hop read the gendered portrayals of the music videos, based on their own experiences, socialisation, cultural values, and level of submission to the discourse of hip-hop.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
A correlational analysis investigating relationships between gender role ideology and attitudes towards gender-based violence
- Authors: Krutani, Siposetu
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Women -- Violence against -- South Africa , Sex role -- Psychological aspects -- South Africa , Male domination (Social structure) -- South Africa , Rhodes University -- Students -- Attitudes , Rape in universities and colleges -- South Africa , Social movements -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Women college students -- Violence against -- South Africa , Male college students -- South Africa -- Attitudes , Women college students -- Psychology -- South Africa , Male college students -- Psychology -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96658 , vital:31305
- Description: This study forms part of a larger project investigating attitudes towards intimate partner violence, dating violence and other forms of gender-based violence with the Rhodes University context. The primary purpose was to establish a baseline descriptive understanding of participants‟ attitudes towards and perceptions of gender-based violence. With the aim to generate results that would somehow inform the larger project, the current study sought to investigate whether a relationship exists between gender-role ideology and attitudes towards gender-based violence amongst a university population which was inclusive of registered students and employees of the university (n = 308). Four samples were categorised: student sample, academic staff sample, administrative support staff sample and operational support staff sample. A once-off, cross sectional survey design was used to obtain the data. The results of the study revealed that the participants in the study uphold largely non-traditional gender-role ideologies, are generally intolerant of dating violence and are rejecting of rape myths. As predicted in the literature, the study revealed that demographics such as gender, religion, age, level of education, number of years spent in the institution, race, and student accommodation have an impact on the relationship between adherence to traditional gender-role ideology and tolerance towards dating violence, as well as on the relationship between adherence to traditional gender-role ideology and rape myth acceptance and the relationship between rape myth acceptance and tolerance towards dating violence. The study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on gender-based violence in institutions of higher learning and could help improve sexual violence prevention programmes in such contexts.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Krutani, Siposetu
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Women -- Violence against -- South Africa , Sex role -- Psychological aspects -- South Africa , Male domination (Social structure) -- South Africa , Rhodes University -- Students -- Attitudes , Rape in universities and colleges -- South Africa , Social movements -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Women college students -- Violence against -- South Africa , Male college students -- South Africa -- Attitudes , Women college students -- Psychology -- South Africa , Male college students -- Psychology -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96658 , vital:31305
- Description: This study forms part of a larger project investigating attitudes towards intimate partner violence, dating violence and other forms of gender-based violence with the Rhodes University context. The primary purpose was to establish a baseline descriptive understanding of participants‟ attitudes towards and perceptions of gender-based violence. With the aim to generate results that would somehow inform the larger project, the current study sought to investigate whether a relationship exists between gender-role ideology and attitudes towards gender-based violence amongst a university population which was inclusive of registered students and employees of the university (n = 308). Four samples were categorised: student sample, academic staff sample, administrative support staff sample and operational support staff sample. A once-off, cross sectional survey design was used to obtain the data. The results of the study revealed that the participants in the study uphold largely non-traditional gender-role ideologies, are generally intolerant of dating violence and are rejecting of rape myths. As predicted in the literature, the study revealed that demographics such as gender, religion, age, level of education, number of years spent in the institution, race, and student accommodation have an impact on the relationship between adherence to traditional gender-role ideology and tolerance towards dating violence, as well as on the relationship between adherence to traditional gender-role ideology and rape myth acceptance and the relationship between rape myth acceptance and tolerance towards dating violence. The study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on gender-based violence in institutions of higher learning and could help improve sexual violence prevention programmes in such contexts.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
“You whore; you are so dirty, bitch”: the justification of and resistance to violence in the intimate relationships of female sex workers
- Authors: Bartlett, Elretha
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Women -- Violence against -- South Africa , Sex workers -- Violence against -- South Africa , Women, Black -- Abuse of -- South Africa , Women -- Violence against -- South Africa -- Case studies , Sex workers -- Violence against -- South Africa -- Case studies , Women, Black -- Abuse of -- South Africa -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5082 , vital:20764
- Description: The objective of the study is to examine discourses of gender and dimensions of social difference implicated in female sex workers’ (FSWs) justifications of, and resistances to, intimate partner violence (IPV). Individual narrative interviews were conducted with FSWs (n=11) who were affiliated with the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT). The participants were mostly women of colour (n=10), with a low socio-economic status, and between 31 and 51 years of age. Intersectionality and features of Foucauldian discourse analysis, as described by Parker (1992), informed the analysis of the interview data. In personal interviews, participants interrogated aspects of their own and their partners’ lives that they viewed as playing a significant role in the aetiology and experience of IPV. They drew on a discourse of violent black masculinity, developmental discourses, and patriarchal ideology to justify and resist their partners’ violent behaviour. They also positioned themselves and their ‘spoiled’ identities as playing a role in the experience of violence. Participants pointed to the construction of sex work as ‘dirty work’ and the role that this played in legitimising the violence that was directed at them by intimate partners. In relation to this positioning and its consequences in terms of justifications for violence, my analysis highlights occasions in which gender ideology is re-appropriated for the purpose of challenging the legitimacy of these interpretative frames. While gender politics is central to my analytic observations, my analysis demonstrates how intersections with race and class shape the specificities of FSWs experiences of IPV. In doing so, this study aims to broaden current insights into the phenomenon of IPV, as it does not only focus on gender discrimination, but on the complex interaction between various systems of oppression.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Bartlett, Elretha
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Women -- Violence against -- South Africa , Sex workers -- Violence against -- South Africa , Women, Black -- Abuse of -- South Africa , Women -- Violence against -- South Africa -- Case studies , Sex workers -- Violence against -- South Africa -- Case studies , Women, Black -- Abuse of -- South Africa -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5082 , vital:20764
- Description: The objective of the study is to examine discourses of gender and dimensions of social difference implicated in female sex workers’ (FSWs) justifications of, and resistances to, intimate partner violence (IPV). Individual narrative interviews were conducted with FSWs (n=11) who were affiliated with the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT). The participants were mostly women of colour (n=10), with a low socio-economic status, and between 31 and 51 years of age. Intersectionality and features of Foucauldian discourse analysis, as described by Parker (1992), informed the analysis of the interview data. In personal interviews, participants interrogated aspects of their own and their partners’ lives that they viewed as playing a significant role in the aetiology and experience of IPV. They drew on a discourse of violent black masculinity, developmental discourses, and patriarchal ideology to justify and resist their partners’ violent behaviour. They also positioned themselves and their ‘spoiled’ identities as playing a role in the experience of violence. Participants pointed to the construction of sex work as ‘dirty work’ and the role that this played in legitimising the violence that was directed at them by intimate partners. In relation to this positioning and its consequences in terms of justifications for violence, my analysis highlights occasions in which gender ideology is re-appropriated for the purpose of challenging the legitimacy of these interpretative frames. While gender politics is central to my analytic observations, my analysis demonstrates how intersections with race and class shape the specificities of FSWs experiences of IPV. In doing so, this study aims to broaden current insights into the phenomenon of IPV, as it does not only focus on gender discrimination, but on the complex interaction between various systems of oppression.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Narratives of women victims of GBV-POWA Johannesburg women's writing project, 2008-2013
- Authors: Makota, Gillian
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Women -- Violence against -- South Africa , Women -- Crimes against -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/6432 , vital:21084
- Description: Gender-based Violence (GBV) has emerged as a major issue on the international human rights agenda and a major public health challenge throughout the world. A large proportion of the violence committed against women is perpetrated by their intimate partners. According to the World Health Organization’s Multi-country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence, it is estimated that approximately 10% to 60% of married women have experienced physical intimate-partner violence during their lifetimes (Garcia-Moreno, Jansen, Ellsberg, Heise and Watts, 2006). Once the extent of GBV in South Africa was realised interventions were put in place to address the issue and the Domestic Violence Act No 116 of 1998 (DVA) was instituted by the South African government, aimed at protecting and combating violence against women. The notion of ending GBV was also acknowledged by the late former South African president, Nelson Mandela (Nelson Mandela’s first State of the Nation Address in Parliament in Cape Town, South Africa, 24 May 1994) said: “Freedom cannot be achieved unless the women have been emancipated from all forms of oppression." (www.ehow.com, first accessed 9 August, 2013). People Opposing Woman Abuse (POWA), a Johannesburg-based non-governmental organization (NGO), initiated interventions to address GBV. POWA offers services to women in South Africa (SA) who have experienced domestic violence, sexual harassment or rape and other forms of violence, by aiming to creating a safe society where women are powerful, self –reliant and respected. Driven by the need to create a collective space through which women could share their stories of surviving GBV, POWA established the Women’s Writing Project (WPP) in 2005. The project publishes annual anthologies with specific themes for a particular year, giving women survivors a platform and opportunity to tell their stories as an important part of the healing process. Though the first anthology was published in 2005, this thesis only provides an analysis of the POWA WWP anthologies from 2008-2013. The notion that narratives can be used as therapeutic tools had prompted the researcher to use existing narratives as a basis to investigate GBV. The study is a qualitative, interpretive study, using content analysis as a method and working within the framework of the Ecological model (1999:18) which talks about the multi-faceted nature of GBV. A total of 65 English narratives, 13 per anthology, by survivors of GBV were used and common themes that emerged were identified to obtain accounts of these selected women’s perceptions, experiences and articulations on GBV. Informed by a theoretical framework consisting of Heise, Ellsberg and Gottemoeller’s Ecological model (1999:18), the USAID GBV Life cycle model (2009:15) and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) GBV health effects document (2005:23), the researcher extracted the main overarching themes which emerged from the women’s narratives. Drawing on the study’s content analysis methodology and the subsequent emerging main narrative themes, the researcher could draw certain conclusions about general similarities in the experiences and perceptions about GBV of the women who participated in POWA’s Johannesburg-based five-year Women’s Writing Project (2008-2013). The most salient of these conclusions are that the following issues are major factors contributing to GBV in the specific sample group, and by assumption also among the larger population that it represents: alcohol abuse and the absence of mother figures. Conclusions about the effects of GBV include that most women suffer from psychological health effects due to GBV experiences. Based on the selected narratives in this study the researcher could conclude that self-narrative storytelling and the recounting of traumatic experiences had therapeutic potential in the treatment and recovery of survivors of GBV. Many of the narrators said that structured self-narration and the publication of their stories had helped to construct a recovery support system not only for themselves but also for those who are possibly still suffering from the consequences of violence. In this way survivors of GBV can therapeutically construct new identities for themselves, which transcend their abuse and thereby actively participate in the construction of meaning in their lives.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Makota, Gillian
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Women -- Violence against -- South Africa , Women -- Crimes against -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/6432 , vital:21084
- Description: Gender-based Violence (GBV) has emerged as a major issue on the international human rights agenda and a major public health challenge throughout the world. A large proportion of the violence committed against women is perpetrated by their intimate partners. According to the World Health Organization’s Multi-country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence, it is estimated that approximately 10% to 60% of married women have experienced physical intimate-partner violence during their lifetimes (Garcia-Moreno, Jansen, Ellsberg, Heise and Watts, 2006). Once the extent of GBV in South Africa was realised interventions were put in place to address the issue and the Domestic Violence Act No 116 of 1998 (DVA) was instituted by the South African government, aimed at protecting and combating violence against women. The notion of ending GBV was also acknowledged by the late former South African president, Nelson Mandela (Nelson Mandela’s first State of the Nation Address in Parliament in Cape Town, South Africa, 24 May 1994) said: “Freedom cannot be achieved unless the women have been emancipated from all forms of oppression." (www.ehow.com, first accessed 9 August, 2013). People Opposing Woman Abuse (POWA), a Johannesburg-based non-governmental organization (NGO), initiated interventions to address GBV. POWA offers services to women in South Africa (SA) who have experienced domestic violence, sexual harassment or rape and other forms of violence, by aiming to creating a safe society where women are powerful, self –reliant and respected. Driven by the need to create a collective space through which women could share their stories of surviving GBV, POWA established the Women’s Writing Project (WPP) in 2005. The project publishes annual anthologies with specific themes for a particular year, giving women survivors a platform and opportunity to tell their stories as an important part of the healing process. Though the first anthology was published in 2005, this thesis only provides an analysis of the POWA WWP anthologies from 2008-2013. The notion that narratives can be used as therapeutic tools had prompted the researcher to use existing narratives as a basis to investigate GBV. The study is a qualitative, interpretive study, using content analysis as a method and working within the framework of the Ecological model (1999:18) which talks about the multi-faceted nature of GBV. A total of 65 English narratives, 13 per anthology, by survivors of GBV were used and common themes that emerged were identified to obtain accounts of these selected women’s perceptions, experiences and articulations on GBV. Informed by a theoretical framework consisting of Heise, Ellsberg and Gottemoeller’s Ecological model (1999:18), the USAID GBV Life cycle model (2009:15) and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) GBV health effects document (2005:23), the researcher extracted the main overarching themes which emerged from the women’s narratives. Drawing on the study’s content analysis methodology and the subsequent emerging main narrative themes, the researcher could draw certain conclusions about general similarities in the experiences and perceptions about GBV of the women who participated in POWA’s Johannesburg-based five-year Women’s Writing Project (2008-2013). The most salient of these conclusions are that the following issues are major factors contributing to GBV in the specific sample group, and by assumption also among the larger population that it represents: alcohol abuse and the absence of mother figures. Conclusions about the effects of GBV include that most women suffer from psychological health effects due to GBV experiences. Based on the selected narratives in this study the researcher could conclude that self-narrative storytelling and the recounting of traumatic experiences had therapeutic potential in the treatment and recovery of survivors of GBV. Many of the narrators said that structured self-narration and the publication of their stories had helped to construct a recovery support system not only for themselves but also for those who are possibly still suffering from the consequences of violence. In this way survivors of GBV can therapeutically construct new identities for themselves, which transcend their abuse and thereby actively participate in the construction of meaning in their lives.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
The meaning women attach to their experiences of intimate partner violence: an interpretative phenomenological study
- Authors: Da Silva, Sheila
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Women -- Violence against -- South Africa , Abused women -- South Africa , Wife abuse -- South Africa , Family violence -- Psychological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M Soc Sc (C Psy)
- Identifier: vital:11853 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/153 , Women -- Violence against -- South Africa , Abused women -- South Africa , Wife abuse -- South Africa , Family violence -- Psychological aspects
- Description: This study investigates the meaning that women attach to their experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV). It seeks to explore how women who have experienced violence in the context of an intimate relationship understand, or make sense of, that experience. It is important to investigate this in order to address some of the assumptions that often inform understandings of the phenomena. Moreover, such information can be used to inform the design and implementation of appropriate interventions. Nine women who had previously experienced violence within the context of an intimate heterosexual relationship participated in this study. For ethical reasons only women who had extricated themselves from those relationships were interviewed for this study. Participants’ accounts were therefore retrospective. The women who participated in this study constituted a homogenous group in terms of their level of education, geographic location and employment status. Data was collected through personal, face-to-face interviews which were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data in the form of text was analyzed following Willig’s (2001) criteria for Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Disclosure of the women’s experiences, how they made sense of their experiences, as well as the resources they identified as available to them are reported in the results and analysis chapter.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Da Silva, Sheila
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Women -- Violence against -- South Africa , Abused women -- South Africa , Wife abuse -- South Africa , Family violence -- Psychological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M Soc Sc (C Psy)
- Identifier: vital:11853 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/153 , Women -- Violence against -- South Africa , Abused women -- South Africa , Wife abuse -- South Africa , Family violence -- Psychological aspects
- Description: This study investigates the meaning that women attach to their experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV). It seeks to explore how women who have experienced violence in the context of an intimate relationship understand, or make sense of, that experience. It is important to investigate this in order to address some of the assumptions that often inform understandings of the phenomena. Moreover, such information can be used to inform the design and implementation of appropriate interventions. Nine women who had previously experienced violence within the context of an intimate heterosexual relationship participated in this study. For ethical reasons only women who had extricated themselves from those relationships were interviewed for this study. Participants’ accounts were therefore retrospective. The women who participated in this study constituted a homogenous group in terms of their level of education, geographic location and employment status. Data was collected through personal, face-to-face interviews which were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data in the form of text was analyzed following Willig’s (2001) criteria for Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Disclosure of the women’s experiences, how they made sense of their experiences, as well as the resources they identified as available to them are reported in the results and analysis chapter.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
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