qualitative research paper on gender based violence pdf

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• Published: 01 November 2022

A qualitative study on gender inequality and gender-based violence in Nepal

• Pranab Dahal 1 ,
• Sunil Kumar Joshi 2 &
• Katarina Swahnberg 1  

BMC Public Health volume  22 , Article number:  2005 ( 2022 ) Cite this article

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Gender inequality and violence are not mutually exclusive phenomena but complex loops affecting each other. Women in Nepal face several inequalities and violence. The causes are diverse, but most of these results are due to socially assigned lower positioning of women. The hierarchies based on power make women face subordination and violence in Nepal. The study aims to explore participants' understanding and experience to identify the status of inequality for women and how violence emerges as one of its consequences. Furthermore, it explores the causes of sex trafficking as an example of an outcome of inequality and violence.

The study formulated separate male and female groups using a purposive sampling method. The study used a multistage focus group discussion, where the same groups met at different intervals. Six focus group discussions, three times each with male and female groups, were conducted in a year. Thirty-six individuals, including sixteen males and twenty females, were involved in the discussions. The study used constructivist grounded theory for the data analysis.

The study participants identify that a power play between men and women reinforce inequality and increases the likelihood of violence for women. The findings suggest that the subjugation of women occurs due to practices based on gender differences, constricted life opportunities, and internalization of constructed differences among women. The study identifies that interpersonal and socio-cultural violence can result due to established differences between men and women. Sex trafficking, as an example of the outcome of inequality and violence, occurs due to the disadvantageous position of women compounded by poverty and illiteracy. The study has developed a concept of power-play which is identified as a cause and consequence of women's subordination and violence. This power play is found operative at various levels with social approval for men to use violence and maintain/produce inequality.

The theoretical concept of power play shows that there are inequitable power relations between men and women. The male-centric socio-cultural norms and practices have endowed men with privilege, power, and an opportunity to exploit women. This lowers the status of women and the power-play help to produce and sustain inequality. The power-play exposes women to violence and manifests itself as one of the worst expressions used by men.

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Violence against women is identified as an attempt by men to maintain power and control over women [ 1 ] and is manifested as a form of structural inequality. This structural inequality is apparent with greater agency among men [ 2 ]. The differences between sexes are exhibited in the attainment of education and professional jobs, ownership of assets, the feminization of poverty, etc., and these differences increase the risk of violence towards women [ 3 ]. The global estimate identifies that thirty percent of women experience physical and/or sexual violence during their lifetime, illustrating the enormity of this problem [ 4 ]. From a feminist perspective, lending ideas of patriarchy [ 5 ] and gender performativity [ 6 ], the understanding of gender roles prescribed by male-dominated social structures and processes helps further explore the violence and abuse faced by women [ 7 ]. According to Heise [ 8 ], men who adhere to traditional, rigid, and misogynistic views on gender norms, attitudes, and behaviors are more likely to use violence towards women. The individual and collective attitudes of men toward different established gender norms, and their reproduction explain men’s use of violence toward women [ 9 ]. It is known that gender norms influence violence, but at the same time violence also directs and dictates gender performance with fear, sanction, and corrective measures for enacting respective prescribed gender functions [ 10 ].

It is difficult for women subjected to violence to enjoy legitimate rights, as most of the infringement of their rights and violence takes place inside a private sphere of the home [ 11 , 12 ]. Violence against women is the major cause of death and disability for women [ 13 ] and globally a major public health concern [ 14 ]. Establishing gender equality is fundamental for fostering justice and attaining sustainable development [ 15 ]; moreover, violence against women has to be acknowledged as a fundamental abuse of human rights [ 16 ]. A report on global violence has identified that violence against women exists at all levels of the family, community, and state. The report recommended the development of frameworks for respecting, protecting, and fulfilling women’s rights [ 17 ]. Fifteen years later, a review of the same identifies that violence continues with impunity, reaffirming violence as a major obstacle to the attainment of justice [ 18 ].

The inclusion of the gender lens to violence against women has provided more contextual evidence to explore these processes of violence. This requires the identification of unequal power relationships and an inquiry into the differences-producing various gender stereotypes [ 19 ]. This analysis of violence requires an understanding of behaviors that promote women’s subordination and factors that favor men to sustain these malpractices [ 8 ]. A closer look at the male-centric structural arrangements embedded in the social, political, and economic organization of life reveals that these structures provide lesser access and lower accountability toward women, promote systemic subordination, and create hierarchies, resulting in the increase of violence against women [ 20 ]. This unequal gender power relationship reinforced and manifested by social approval of men’s authority over women is found operative at multiple levels and helps to produce diversities of inequalities and violence [ 21 , 22 ].

The inequalities faced by women in Nepal majorly stem from socio-cultural, economic, and religious factors and influencers that define traditional roles and responsibilities between men and women [ 23 ]. The inequalities are more evident and pronounced in settings exhibiting prominent patriarchal norms restricting advantages and opportunities for the majority of women [ 24 ]. Women in Nepal are restricted inside their homes, have lesser access to life opportunities, and have limited or no involvement in decision-making on important issues directly affecting their lives [ 25 , 26 ]. Figures indicative of women’s inequalities in Nepal suggest that one-third of women have no education, fifty-two percent of women are involved in non-paid jobs, and women are less likely than men to own a home or land [ 27 ]. The men in Nepalese society are positioned higher and are expected to be the breadwinner and protectors of their families. Most of these men intend to earn respect and obedience from women and are socially expected to discipline women to achieve it [ 28 ]. Many societies across the world including Nepal, recognizes violence as a private affair requiring discussion only within a family. This has led to a serious underreporting of violence committed toward women in Nepal [ 29 ]. The national gender data in Nepal is scarce, the available Nepal Demographic Health Survey 2016 identifies that since the age of fifteen, twenty-two percent of women and seven percent of women experience physical and sexual violence, respectively in the past twelve months [ 27 ].

The contributing factors for violence against women in Nepal include the lower social status of women, illiteracy, economic dependency, patriarchal society, sex trafficking, alcohol-related abuse, dowry-related violence, infidelity, extramarital affairs of husband, unemployment, and denial of sex with husband [ 30 , 31 , 32 ]. Nepalese women have been repressing violence with silence due to the fear of breaking relationships, receiving less love and affection from family, fear of social norms by going against men, lack of faith in the justice system, and the threat of increased violence [ 33 ]. Women and girls in Nepal are sex trafficked to various countries. Sex trafficking in Nepal is prevalent due to persistent gender inequality, violence, stigma, and discriminatory socio-cultural structures; however, the actual extent of sex trafficking is still undetermined [ 17 , 34 , 35 ].

The recent trends in Nepal with the increasing number of out-migration of men for employment have provided women with temporary autonomy, and a shift in the gender roles. Earlier research has identified that migration of male spouses has provided a resistance to the power dynamics for women on the other hand it has limited their mobility, required them to share decision-making with household structures, face continued social vigilance on the money received from remittance, and get central attention with their personal sexual lives [ 36 , 37 ].

Morang district lies in the eastern region of Nepal. A district profile report based on a census survey [ 38 ] identifies that the place is inhabited by a close to a million population, out of which ethnic groups ( close to forty percent) live in the district with a majority (seventy-eight percent) of its population living in the rural areas. Tharu an ethnic group is one of the dominant population in the study area and all study participants for this study were from same Tharu population. A close to thirty-six percent of women in the district are illiterate and the average age of marriage is eighteen years. The report identifies that only twenty-three percent of women engage in economic activities apart from agricultural work and less than fourteen percent of women head the household. Almost eighty percent of the population in the district practice Hinduism.

This study is a part of a large intervention project and it was focused to establish a qualitative baseline of the gender status in the study area. This study aimed to explore participants’ experiences and understanding of gender inequality, violence against women, and information on sex trafficking in the Morang district of eastern Nepal. The selection of sex trafficking topic was motivated to assess the respondents’ general understanding of one of the consequences of inequality and violence faced by women. The study focused to explore factors that help to produce and sustain the practice of gender inequality and violence against women in the local community.

Participants

This study was part of a larger control-comparison project that used Forum Theatre interventions to promote gender equality, reduce violence against women, and increase awareness of sex trafficking [ 39 , 40 ]. The participants for the focus group discussion included the intervention population from one of the randomly sampled intervention sites. A multistage focus group discussion [ 41 ] was used involving the same participants discussing various emerging topics at different periods. The participants were recruited voluntarily during an earlier quantitative data collection for the project. The study used a purposive sampling method for the selection of participants. The local field staff at the study site facilitated the recruitment of the participants. The study formulated separate male and female groups. A total of six focus groups, three each with male and female groups were conducted over twelve months. Two inclusion criteria were set for participation. First, the participants had to be part of the population of the larger study. Secondly, they had to witness and/or participate in the Forum Theatre interventions conducted in between the study. The set inclusion criteria served a dual purpose of understanding the causes of inequality and violence and further helped to develop and determine the efficacy of participatory Forum Theater intervention for awareness-raising among the study intervention groups [ 39 ].

A total of thirty-six participants consisting of sixteen males and twenty females joined the discussions. The first discussion consisted of eight participants each from groups while the second and the third discussion missed two female and four male participants respectively. The majority of the participants were 20–29 years old. Tharu, an ethnic community of Nepal, is a dominant population in the study area, and all the participants belonged to the same Tharu community. Only one female participant was unmarried, and a single married male participated in the discussions. All participants were literate, with four males completing a bachelor's level of education. Seven female participants had education below the high school level. The nuclear family with parents and their children was the major family type identified in both male and female groups. Table 1 provides the detail of the participants.

The focus group discussions were conducted in January 2017, April–May 2017, and January 2018. The discussions were conducted in a place recommended by the participants. An isolated place in an open setting at the premise of a local temple was used for conducting all discussions. The participants were briefed about the objectives of the discussion and written consent was obtained for their participation. Verbal consent was taken for the audio recording of the discussions. Each participant was assigned a unique numerical code before the discussions to ensure anonymity during recording, note-taking, and analysis. The discussions averaged ninety minutes during each session. The discussions were conducted with the same participants and no new participants were added during the follow-ups. A single male and female participant were missing in the second follow up and two male participants missed the final follow-up. The reason for missing participants was due to their unavailability as they were out of the village due to personal reasons.

The discussions were conducted in the Nepali language. The first author moderated all six discussions, a support field staff member took the notes, and the last author observed the discussions. The audio recordings were translated into English, and the transcriptions were checked with the recordings to verify accuracy. The field and the discussion notes were used during various stages of data analysis. The notes provided information on the discussion setting, as well as the verbal and nonverbal expressions of the participants. The notes helped to assess the impressions, emphasis, and feelings of the participants during the discussions.

The discussions used pre-formulated discussion guides with open-ended questions on inequalities, gender practices, violence, and sex trafficking. The guiding questions were based on the theoretical premise of discrimination, patriarchy, oppression, hegemony, and participation of women. Three separate discussion guides were developed for each of discussions. The guides were developed by the first and last authors. Probing was done on several occasions during the discussion to gain more clarity on the issue. Cross-checking among the participants and between the groups was done to triangulate received information. Any topic deemed appropriate for discussions and/or any unclear issues identified during the initial data analysis came up subsequently in the discussion guide during the follow-ups.

Data analysis

This study used the constructivist grounded theory method. This method adheres to a constructivist philosophical approach wherein both researchers and participants mutually co-construct the meaning of a phenomenon [ 42 ]. This interaction is important since it helps to impart the meaning of shared experiences [ 42 ]. The constructivist grounded theory made it possible to (re) discover gender issues, important for both the researcher and the study participants. This method allowed the study to progress with responsiveness to emerging issues with an in-depth exploration of the identified issues. This clarity was achieved through repeated interactive discussions, analysis of explanations, and sharing of emergent findings with the study participants.

The audio recordings were translated and transcribed into English. Six transcripts from discussions were initially analyzed using a line-by-line coding process. The coding process helped with the fragmentation of data through interactive comparisons. Fifty-two initial codes such as gender differences, restricting women, alcohol-related violence, underreporting of sexual violence, coping, etc. were identified. The later stage of focused coding helped to achieve categorized data, providing logical sense to the developed initial codes. Three focused codes, namely, the subjugation of women, violence, and chasing dreams were formulated during the analysis. The abductive reasoning from the codes, memos, and discussion notes helped to develop the theoretical concept. The development of conceptual abstraction involved an iterative comparison of the data, codes, categories, memos, and discussion notes.

The constant communication between the authors during the stages of data analysis such as the formulation of codes, explanations of concepts, and categories helped to refine the analysis. The shared experiences of the participants and the description of the data collection and analysis included substantial details, enabling comparisons for future research and application to other similar contexts. The reliability of the study is warranted by the theoretical saturation [ 42 ] achieved by this study. This is supported by prolonged engagement with the study participants with communication on the emerging findings, and triangulation.

Reflexivity has a greater significance for the constructivist approach. The first and the second author of Nepalese origin were aware of the socio-cultural norms, stereotypes, values, and stigmas associated with gender in the local context. This helped the study to ascertain the depth of inquiry within the acceptable local normative limits. The non-Nepalese author, familiar with the study participants and Nepalese contexts, witnessed the discussions as an observer. The prior knowledge of the authors helped to critically assess different schemas, perspectives, and explanations shared by the participants. The universality of gender inequality and violence against women and its re-examination in the local context helped the authors to build upon existing knowledge by providing contextual explanations. The diversities among the authors and research participants established a basis for co-creating the perceived and observed realities.

The section below describes the participants’ perceptions and understanding of inequality and violence. The section contains subheadings that were derived as themes in the data analysis. The first theme subjugation of women; discusses how norms, beliefs, and practices produce inferior status and positions for women. The second theme domestic and gender violence; provides a narrative of interpersonal and socio-cultural violence present in the study area. The theme of chasing dreams; discusses the process of sex trafficking as an outcome of violence. The theoretically abstracted concept of power-play identifies the cause for the generation of power imbalance producing inequality and the use of violence by men.

Subjugation of women

The subjugation of women reflected practices and beliefs imparting positional differences for women and their social situation compared to men. The participants shared a common understanding that belief systems adhering to male supremacy have positioned women in a lower status. They provided examples of social practices of male supremacy such as males being considered as the carrier of a family name, legacy, and heritage, while women were referred to as someone else’s property. The socialization of the idea that girls will be married off to a husband and relocate themselves to their homes was identified as the major reason for instilling and perpetuating early gender differences. The participants mentioned that discriminatory practices and seclusion have situated women at the bottom rung of the gender hierarchy, establishing them as socially incompetent individuals or groups. Moreover, they inferred that selective preferences provided preparatory grounds for inequalities, and they remain attached to women throughout their lives. The participants provided examples of unequal access to education and life opportunities as a practice of selective preferences occurring in the community. They mentioned that socialization with these discriminatory beliefs and their practice helped to develop specialized gender roles from an early age. The participants provided an example of how gender intersected with mobility and resource generation in the community, it was clear from the discussions that this has restricted women inside homes but provided freedom and opportunities for men. A female participant expressed,

A woman from a poor family is more than willing to work and support her family. But she is not allowed by the men in the family to work outside of the home.

The participants informed that differences between the sexes were visible for women from a young age. Sharing practical examples from the community, the participants from both groups stated that girls received education mostly in low-cost government and community schools, while boys were enrolled in expensive private schools. They raised concerns that this selective investment for education, cited as the ‘building block of life’ by the participants, installed lesser capacity, and negotiating abilities in girls. A female participant stated,

There are differences in educational opportunities for boys and girls in our community. Family provides more support for a boy’s education by enrolling him in private schools, while a girl mostly gets her education in a community school together with engagement in household work.

The discussions revealed that women required several male anchors for their survival during their various stages of life. The participants provided examples of the shift of anchors for women which traversed from a father to a husband during marriage and later to the male child during her old age. They believed that this tradition of transferring women’s identity established men as a higher social category and stripped women of their individuality and identity. A male participant added,

Women have to remain dependent on men throughout their lives, first with their fathers and later with their husbands. They remain completely dependent as they are not economically active. This makes men believe that they have higher authority.

The female participants provided an example of marriage to illustrate how someone else’s decision-making had been affecting women’s lives. A participant explained that women were held responsible for household activities after marriage and any support for career progression or education was restricted despite her desire for its continuation. It was inferred that women had to drop their hopes and aspirations as the husband and his family made decisions for them. The female participants agreed that this continuous exposure to the ideas of male supremacy makes them start to believe and internalize the idea that women have lesser cognitive abilities and intelligence compared to men. A female participant stated,

Men and women certainly have different mental abilities. Men think and act differently often in a smart way compared to women.

The participants from both groups expressed that youth in the community were developing flexible attitudes and beliefs towards gender roles and responsibilities. They agreed that both young men and women were observed altering their roles and responsibilities shifting from traditional gender ideologies. The participants expressed that instilling these fluidity and flexible approaches in the older generation was impossible as they strictly followed traditional beliefs and practices. Few of the female participants admitted that at times young women also fail to accommodate the situation and reap benefits from available opportunities. The discussions revealed that a few of the women in the community received opportunities for independence and economic empowerment. These women had received entrepreneurial training and various skill development activities for sustaining livelihoods with practical skill-based training in tailoring, beautician, and doll-making. The female participants expressed that opportunities for independence and growth slipped away from them due to a lack of family support, financial constraints, and self-passivity. They explained that starting a business required approval from a family which was difficult to obtain. Moreover, if women made a self-decision to start up on their own, they lacked the initial capital and had to rely on men for obtaining resources. The participants further explained that the denial of men to support women were majorly due to the fear that norms of staying indoors for women will be breached and economic independence may enable women to have a similar financial footing as men. The participants stated that self-passivity in women emerged due to their engagement in household multiple roles, dependency upon males, and lack of decision-making power and abilities. A female participant summed it up by stating,

Some of us women in the community have received entrepreneurial skills training, but we have not been able to use our skills for our growth and development. Once the training finishes, we get back to our household chores and taking care of the children.

The female participants admitted that acceptance of belief systems requiring women to be docile, unseen, and unheard were the reasons for this self-passivity. The female participants resonated that the external controlling and unfavorable environment influenced by practices of discriminatory norms and beliefs developed self-passivity for women. A female participant expressed the cause and consequence of self-passivity as,

Women have inhibitions to speaking their minds; something stops us from making our position clear, making us lose all the time.

The discussions identified that gender norms were deeply engraved in various social interactions and daily life, and any deviance received strict criticism. The participants shared common examples of sanctions for women based on rigid norms like restrictive movements for women, social gossiping when women communicated with outsider men, prohibition for opinion giving in public, and lesser involvement during key decision-making at home. The participants shared that norms dictating gender roles were in place for both men and women with social sanctions and approval for their performance. A male discussion participant who occasionally got involved with cooking which was a so-called “women’s job” faced outright disapproval from his female relatives and neighbors. The male participant stated,

If I cook or get engaged in any household jobs, it is mostly females from the home and neighborhood who make fun of me and remind me that I am a man and that I should not be doing a woman’s job.

The foreign migration of youth looking for job opportunities has affected the Tharu community. It was known that a large number of men were absent from the community. The participants stated that women in such households with absent men had gained authority and control over resources, moreover, these women have been taking some of the men’s roles. The participants disclosed that these women had greater access and control over resources and were involved in the key decision-making positioning them in a relatively higher position compared to other women. It was known that this higher position for women came with a price, they were under higher social vigilance and at higher risk of abuse and violence due to the absence of ‘protective men’. It was known that women's foreign employment was associated with myths and sexist remarks. The participants shared that women had to face strict social criticisms and that their plans for livelihood and independence were related to an issue of sexual immorality and chastity. The participants from both groups strictly opposed the norms that associated women with sexual immorality but lamented that it continues. A male participant provided an insight into the social remarks received by women if she dares to go for foreign employment,

If a woman wants to go for a foreign job, she is considered to be of loose character. The idea that she is corrupt and will get involved in bad work will be her first impression of anyone.

Although the participant did not explicitly describe what bad work referred to as but it was inferred that he was relating it to sex work.

Domestic and gender violence

The participants identified violence as control, coercion, and use of force against someone will occurring due to unequal status. They primarily identified men as the perpetrators and women as the victims of violence. They explained that two types of violence were observed in the community. The first type occurred in an interpersonal relationship identified as physical, emotional, and sexual violence. The second type, as explained by the participants had its roots in socio-cultural belief systems. They provided examples of dowry exchange and witchcraft accusations for the latter type. The participants identified women as primary victims and listed both men and women as the perpetrators of both types of violence. They reported that physical violence against women by men under the influence of alcohol was the most commonly occurring violence in the community. The participants from both groups confirmed that wife-beating, verbal abuse, and quarrel frequently occurred in the community. It was known from discussions that alcohol consumption among men was widespread, and its cultural acceptance was also increasing episodes of violence. One of the female participants clarified further,

The most common violence occurring in our society is wife-beating by a husband under the influence of alcohol. We see it every day.

The participants reported the occurrence of sexual violence in the community but also pointed out that people refrained from discussing it considering it a taboo and private affair. The participants had hesitation to discuss freely on sexual violence. During the discussions, participants from both groups informed only of rape and attempted rape of women by men as sexual violence present in the community. Despite repeated probing, on several occasions, none of the participants from either group brought up issues and discussions about any other forms of sexual violence. Participants from both groups confirmed that stories about incidents of rape or attempted rape emerged only after cases were registered with the local police. The participants presumed that incidents of rape and attempted rape were not known to the wider community. A female participant stated,

Sexual violence does occur in our community, but people mostly do not report or disclose it, but they tend to keep it amongst themselves and their families.

The participants explained the identity of the rape perpetrator and victim. They identified the perpetrator as a rich, influential, and relatively powerful man from the community. The victim was portrayed as a poor and isolated woman which lesser social ties. It was known from the discussions that most of the rape cases in the community were settled with financial negotiations and monetary compensations for the victim rather than finding legal remedies. It can be inferred that the victimization of women intersects with gender, wealth, social stature, and affluence. The participants feared that this practice of settlement of rape with money could make rape a commodity available for the powerful, rich, and affluent men to exploit and victimize women. A male participant clarifies,

Recently, a man in his sixties raped a young girl near our village. The victim's family was ready to settle with monetary compensation offered by the rapist, but the involvement of the community stopped it and the rapist was handed over to the police.

The participants shared available coping mechanisms against violence practiced in the community by women. It was learned that the victim of household violence mostly used community consultation and police reporting to evade further violence. They divulged that community consultation and police reporting resulted in decisions in favor of victim women, directing abusive husbands to show decency and stop committing violence. The fear of legal repercussions such as spending time in police custody and getting charged under domestic violence cases was understood as the reasons for husbands to stop abuse and violence. The discussions revealed that women who file a formal complaint about their husband’s violent behavior could face an increased risk of violence. The participants disclosed that sharing such incidents publicly brought shame to some of the men and increased their anger, and often backlashed with increased violence. The participants in both groups stated that not all women in the community reported violence. They identified that women tend to be quiet despite facing continuous violence due to the fear of encountering more violence and to keeping their families together. A female participant clarifies,

Lodging public complaints against the abusive husband can sometimes escalate the violence. The husband’s anger for being humiliated in public must be faced by the woman inside the closed doors of the house with more violence and the men’s threat of abandoning the relationship.

The participants stated that socio-cultural violence against women in dowry-related cases was widespread and increasing. The dowry exchange was explained as a traditional practice with the family of the bride paying cash and kind to the groom's family. The participants clarified that the practice of dowry in the earlier days must have been an emergency fund for the newly wedded bride in a newer setting. According to the participants, the system of dowry has now developed and evolved as a practice of forced involuntary transfer of goods and cash demanded by the groom’s family. The discussions disclosed that the demands for dowry were increasing with time and failing to provide as promised immediately resulted in violence for the newly wedded bride. The participants described that dowry-related violence starts with taunts and progresses to withholding of food, verbal abuse, and finally, physical violence. They added that perpetrators of such violence were both men and women from the groom’s family. They stated that due to poverty not all bride families in the community were able to supply all demanded dowry which has exposed a large number of women to face dowry-related abuse and violence. The discussions also informed of a newer trend among girls by demanding goods during their wedding. It was shared that this new emerging trend had increased a two-fold financial burden on the bride’s family with heavy marriage debts. The male participants when questioned about the dowry demands cunningly shifted the responsibilities towards family and stated that it was not the groom but their families who were making such dowry demands. The discussions verified that dowry practice was so engraved in the community that it was impossible to even imagine a marriage without any dowry. A male participant reflected,

If I marry without any dowry, my family, neighbors, and all whom I know would consider that I am insane.

The participants also discussed and identified harmful traditional practices present in the community. The participants informed a common practice of accusing women of as witches existed in the community. It was mentioned that women faced witchcraft allegations in different situations. They provided examples of witchcraft allegations in common situations such as when someone’s cow stops producing milk when a child has a sore eye, when someone is bedridden due to sickness for days, or when a woman undergoes a miscarriage, etc. The participants stated that women accused of witch were always elderly/single women living in seclusion, poverty, and with fewer social ties. They also shared that the witch doctors, who ascertain whether a woman is a witch or not, were surprisingly mostly always men and hold higher status, respect, and social recognition. The consequences of being labeled as a witch, as explained by the participants, haunted victim women with torture, name-calling, social boycott, and extremes of physical violence. The participants informed that inhumane practices such as forceful feeding of human excreta prevailed during the witch cleansing sessions. A female participant explaining the witchcraft situation stated,

Witchcraft accusation is very real in our community; I know someone who has tortured his mother, citing reasons for his wife being childless. The old woman was called names, beaten, and later thrown out of the home.

The participants felt that men’s use of violence and its legitimization primarily existed due to gender hierarchy and internalization of the belief that violence was the best method to resolve any conflict. They inferred that men’s use of violence was further reinforced by women's acceptance and belief that violence had occurred due to their faults and carelessness. The female participants shared examples of common household situations that could result in an episode of violence such as women cooking distasteful food, failing to provide timely care to children and the elderly due to workload, and forgetting to clean rooms. These incidents make women believe that violence majorly occurred due to their mistakes. Furthermore, the participants believed that this self-blaming of the victim resulted due to constant exposure to violence and a non-negotiable social positioning of women for raising questions. The participants stated that beliefs instilled by religion increased the likelihood of victimization for women. They explained that religious practices and ideologies required women to refer to their husbands as godly figures, and a religious belief that anything said or done against husbands was a disgrace bringing sin upon her and family positioned women in an inferior position. A male participant added,

We belong to a culture where females worship their husbands as a god, and this might be an important reason for men to feel powerful as a god to exploit and abuse women.

The discussions put forward the idea that the existence of discriminatory beliefs, reinforcement of such beliefs, and a blind following of such practices produced differences and violence. The male participants acknowledged that the idea of male supremacy not only produced violence but also established a belief system that considered violence as an indispensable way to treat deviated women. One male participant stated this idea of male supremacy and privilege as,

The language of the feet is essential when words fail.

The participants also discussed violence committed toward men by women. The male participants burst into laughter when they stated that some men were beaten by their wives when they were drunk. The male participants admitted that intoxication reduced their strength and they got beaten. The female participants, on the other hand, assumed that women hit intoxicated men due to frustration and helplessness. They further clarified that the act of husband beating was a situational reaction towards men who had spent all of their daily earnings on alcohol. They stated that women with the responsibility to cook and feed family find themselves in an utterly helpless situation by the irresponsible drinking behavior of men. The male participants shared incidences of violence against men due to foreign migration. It was revealed in the discussions that some of the migrating men’s wives had run away with remitted money, abandoning marriage, and breaking up the family. The male participants identified this as a form of victimization of men, furthermore, the spreading of rumors and gossip caused emotional instability in those men. The female participants confirmed that some returning men failed to find their homes, property, money, and/or their wives. The discussion participants in both groups identified that this practice was on the rise in the community. It became apparent from the discussions that this increasing trend of women running away with the money and breaking away from family was a personal issue requiring social remedies.

Chasing dreams

The participants referred to sex trafficking as the exploitation of women, arising from poverty, illiteracy, and deceit. Explaining the causes of trafficking, the participants stated that women living in poverty, having dreams of prosperity and abundance were tricked by the traffickers making them victims of sex trafficking. The participants mentioned that women who had dreams larger than life and yearned for a comfortable and luxurious life in a short time were at a greater risk for sex trafficking. The participants from both groups resonated that the traffickers had been manipulating the dreams of poor women and deceiving them into trafficking. A female participant elaborated,

Women in poverty can be fooled easily with dreams. She can be tricked by a trafficker by saying I will find you employment with good pay abroad, and she gets into the trap easily.

A male participant further clarified,

Women readily fall into fraud and trickery shown by the traffickers who assure of luxurious life with foreign employment and this bait often leads to sex trafficking.

They identified that false hopes for foreign jobs were primarily used as an entry point by the traffickers to trap potential victims. Besides, they stated that some traffickers tricked women with false romantic relationships and marriages to win over their trust enabling traffickers to maneuver women as they wished.

It was identified that traffickers were not always strangers but known and familiar faces from the community, allowing the traffickers to gain the victim’s trust. The discussions divulged that traffickers strategically chose women who were less educated and poor. The participants explained that sex trafficking mostly occurred among women from a lower caste (the caste system is hierarchy-based in Hindu society which is determined by birth and unchangeable). They further explained that if one of these lower caste women went missing, it seldom raised any serious concerns in society, making these women easy targets for the traffickers. The discussions revealed that life for the survivors of sex trafficking was difficult. They identified that the survivor had to face strong stigmas and stereotypes which further increased their risk for re-victimization. The participants explained that the social acceptance of the trafficking survivors was minimal and finding a job for survival was very difficult. It was reported that social beliefs, norms, and practices were rigid for sex trafficking survivors and provided lesser opportunities for complete social integration. A female participant stated,

The story of a sex-trafficked woman does not end after her rescue. It is difficult for her to live in society, and this increases her chances of being a further victim.

The discussions in both groups highlighted that education and awareness were important for reducing sex trafficking. The participants felt that securing a livelihood for women was essential, but they identified it as a major challenge. The female participants recommended the use of education and awareness for reducing sex trafficking. They demanded effective legal actions and stringent enforcement of the law with maximum punishment for offending sex traffickers. They mentioned that the fear of law with maximum punishment for culprits could help decrease cases of trafficking.

The theoretical concept of power play

The discussions identified that gender inequality and violence against women occurred as men possessed and exercised greater authority. The participants explained that the authority emerging from male-centric beliefs was reinforced through established socio-cultural institutions. It was known that oppressive practices toward women in both public and private life have led to the domination and devaluation of women. The differences between men and women were known to be instilled by evoking discriminatory beliefs and due to internalization of them as fundamental truths by women which further helps to sustain these created differences.

The concept of power-play developed from the study has its roots in the belief systems and was found constantly used by men to maintain created differences. The power-play rise due to patriarchy, guiding discriminatory norms and unequal gender practices. These norms and practices in the canopy of patriarchy positions women inferior to men and impose control and restrictions. The power play possessed multi-dimensional effects on women such as creating further barriers, restricted life opportunities, the need for men-centered anchoring systems, and exclusion from the public arena. The power play gains its strength from the strict enforcement of stereotypical practices and committed adherence to gender performances. This leads to internalization of subordination as a natural occurrence by women. These further isolate women putting them into several non-negotiating positions. The power play at an individual level provides restrictive movement for women, barring them from quality education and other life opportunities, and is exhibited in alcohol-related assault and sexual violence. At the structural level, this power play limits women from economic opportunities, access to resources, and decision-making, and induces socio-cultural inequality exhibited in dowry and cases of witchcraft. The socio-cultural acceptance of power-play allows men to use violence as a misuse of power and use it as an effort to maintain authority. The use of power-play for committing violence was identified as the worst display of exercised power play.

Figure  1 describes the concept of power-play developed from the study. The power-play model is based on discussions and inferences made from data analysis. The model provides a description and explanation of how women are subjected to inequality and face violence. The concept of power play derives its strength from the subjugated status of women which are based on selective treatment, self-embodiment of inferiority, imposed restrictions and due to lesser life opportunities. The power play gain legitimacy through social approval of the status differences between men and women and through social systems and institutions majorly developed and favoring men. The status difference between men and women and its approval by developed social institutions and processes give rise to the concept of powerplay. It identifies that status differences allow men to gain and (mis)use power play not only to maintain differences but also enable men to use violence. The use of power-play exists at both interpersonal and cultural levels. Further, the model elaborates on influencers causing subjugation of women, display of power-play, and violence. The model identified that lodging public complaints and seeking legal remedies are the influencers that suppress violence against women. The influence of Forum Theater was perceived to have greater influence for victim, perpetrator, and bystanders. The influencers that aggravate violence are fear of further violence, the nature of the interpersonal relationship, alcohol-related abuse, and remaining silent especially on sexual violence. The cultural violence mentioned in the model refers to dowry and witchcraft-related violence and stands as systemic subordination. In the model, sex trafficking is depicted as one of the outcomes of inequality and violence faced by women majorly occurring due to deceit and fraud.

The theoretical concept of power-play developed in this study identifies that inequality produces violence and violence further reinforces inequality, creating a vicious circle. The power play situates hierarchy based on gender as the primary cause and identifies violence as an outcome of this power asymmetry. The authority to use power by men is received by social approval from embedded structures and institutions. The functioning of associated structures and norms is designed and run by men helping to perpetuate the dominance and subjugation of women. The study identifies that both interpersonal and socio-cultural violence emerges due to the positional differences and use of power. The study found that an element of control exists in interpersonal violence. The findings show that few victim women in the community took advantage of consultations and rely on the law to evade and /or cope during the occurrence of interpersonal violence. A large number of victims women however suffer silently as they are unable and unwilling to take a stand on violence due to their perceived positional differences and strict norms following. The study finds that violence originating from socio-cultural systems is widely accepted and no established means of control exists. The practice of heinous acts against a fellow human during witchcraft allegations and dowry exchanges is prohibited by the law of Nepal but is widespread. This situates that practices which are based on belief systems are more effective than prevailing national laws which try to stop them. Sex trafficking as a form of sexual violence use deceit and fraud against women. Poverty and illiteracy compel women to search for alternatives, and they become easy victims of sex trafficking when their dreams of a better life are manipulated by the traffickers. The false promise of a better life and highly paid job put women in a non-negotiating position with traffickers. The cherished dream of escaping the prevailing status-quo of oppression, subordination, violence, and poverty mesmerizes women to take risky decisions, falling into the risk and trap of sex trafficking.

The socio-cultural norms are the unwritten script of social operatives and functioning. These social norms function as codes of operation and are a major determinant for behavior and interactions between people [ 43 ]. The study has found that these norms were skewed, and most favored men, giving rise to status differences and producing inequalities for women. This is observed with lesser life opportunities, lower participation in decision-making, and a constant need to anchor women. This further helps men to maintain their hierarchical positional status and use violence. The subjugation of women does not occur in a linear process, it is influenced by the internalization of discrimination resulting in lower self-esteem, suppression, and domination of women based on norms and unequal practices. Earlier research has identified that norms and beliefs encourage men to control women, and direct them to use force to discipline women which increases the risk of violence occurrence [ 44 , 45 ]. An earlier study shows that traits of masculinity require men to become controlling, aggressive, and dominant over women to maintain status differences [ 46 ]. The study confirms that men upon receiving both normative and social approval for using violence against women can do so without hesitation.

Violence against women in Nepal mostly occurs inside the home and is only reported when it reaches higher levels of severity. The acceptance of violence as a private affair has restricted women from seeking support and discourages them from communicating their problems with outsiders [ 47 ] this increases more likelihood for men to use violence. The study finds issues related to sex and sexual violence is a taboo and are seldom reported. The study could only identify cases of sexual assault registered with the police and other cases known to the wider community as sexual violence. A community with known incidents of rape may have other cases of abuse, harassment, incest, forceful sexual contact, etc. Failure to report incidents of sexual violence infer that a large number of women could be suffering in silence. Earlier research identifies that increased stigmatization associated with sexual violence, and fear of seclusion cause reluctance in victims to report or seek support [ 48 ]. This silencing of victims provides men with greater sexual control over women [ 49 ] increasing more likelihood of use of violence. Gender-based inequality and violence intersect structures, institutions, and socio-cultural processes, making inequality and violence visible at all levels. The dowry-related violence and witchcraft allegation intersect interpersonal and structural violence. This cultural violence forces women to be a victim of lifelong abuse and trauma. The intersecting relationship between gender norms, social structures, and individual is so closely knitted that it produces varieties of inequality and violence at all levels [ 50 ]. Emotional violence in this study only emerged as a type of violence, during discussions in both groups. It did not emerge as a major concern for the participants except for dowry-related violence and violence against men. The intertwined nature of emotional violence and its occurrence with each abusive, exploitative, and violent situation may have influenced the participants understand it as a result, rather than as a specific type of violence.

The power play between sexes was found in synchronicity with the established norms and prevailing stereotypes, helping to perpetuate gender power imbalance. The gender system is influenced and governed by norms and the social arena becomes the site of its reproduction through the interaction and engagement of people. This interaction provides approval to the institutions and processes that are based on constructed differences between men and women [ 51 ]. The power, as identified by Fricker [ 52 ], controls a social group and operates and operates through the agent or established social structures. A man can actively use the vested power to either patronize and/or abuse women while passively women’s internalization of social settings and embedded norms can put them docile. The social controls as reported by Foucault [ 53 ] work with the embedded systems of internalization, discipline, and social monitoring and uses coercion rather than inflicting pain. The internalization of status differences among women as indicated by the study confirms this schema of social control. The dominance of men over women with patriarchal beliefs establishes the significance of male-centered kinship. This requires women to constantly anchor with men providing grounds for inequalities to perpetuate further. This idealizes men and reinforces the belief that women are non-existent without their presence. The requirement for male anchorage has an attachment to prevailing structural inequality. The family property and resources are mostly controlled by men and it usually transfers from father to son limiting inheritance to women [ 51 ]. These glorified idealizations of men's competence as described by Ridgeway [ 54 ] idealize men as individuals with abilities, status, power, and influences. The need for women to rely on men as anchors, fear of going against the norms and social sanctions explains the positional difference and show that men possess greater competencies. The internalization of men-centric superior beliefs by women occurs due to self-passivity and devalues women creating false impressions of their abilities. The gender roles and responsibilities were strict for both sexes but provided greater flexibility, privilege, and opportunity for men. Earlier studies in congruence with this study find that socio-cultural expectations limit women from deviation, and strictly adhere to their prescribed role and expectations [ 55 , 56 ] providing an upper hand to the men. The unequal social positioning of women, as defined by a few of the participants, can help define men's use of violence. As inferred by Kaufman [ 57 ], the disadvantageous position of women and support from the established structures enable men to use aggression and violence with considerable ease. The concept of power-play derived from this study also reflects that inequalities not only create hierarchies, putting women into a subordinating position but also legitimize norms of harmful masculinity and violence [ 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 ] creating a vicious cycle of inequality and violence. The concept of power-play developed by this study requires further exploration of gender relations, injustice, and patriarchy to identify multiple operatives of power with an outcome of inequality and violence.

Strengths and limitations of the study

The study followed the same participants over a period, which helped the study to achieve clarity on the topics through constant engagement. The data collection and the initial data analysis of the study were conducted by the same person, which reduced the risk of misrepresented findings. The study used follow-up discussions, which provided an opportunity to meet the participants again to resolve any ambiguities. The constant engagement with the participants helped to develop rapport and trust, which is essential to enable meaningful discussions. The study gathered rich data for developing the theory of power play in the Nepalese context. The study has attempted to explain the interplay of men’s use of power play, gender inequality, and violence against women, which, in itself, is a complex, but important issue. The study helped to develop a platform by identifying a level of awareness and needs for a Forum Theatre intervention study, a first of its kind in Nepal.

The major limitation of the study is that it was conducted with only one of the ethnic populations of Nepal; thus, the findings from this study cannot be generalized to a completely different setting. However, the transferability of the study is possible in a similar setting. The incidences of inequality and violence shared by the participants were self-reported, and no other means of verification were available to crosscheck those claims. The differences among the participants both in and between groups based on education and marital status might have influenced the study participants to understand, observe, and experience the phenomenon. The possibility of social desirability bias remains with the study, as a constant engagement with the study participants might have influenced them to answer differently. Furthermore, the discussions were conducted in groups, and participants might have had hesitation to bring up any opposing views. The study relied on collecting information on social norms and individual experiences and the perceptions of the study participants. It cannot be claimed that the study is devoid of any data rigidity as participants were free to choose what they wanted to share and express.

Study implications

The study explains gender practices, norms, violence against women, and sex trafficking in Nepal. The study helps to increase the understanding of how gender systems are operative in the daily lives of the Tharu community in the Morang district of Nepal. Future studies can explore the established linkages of interpersonal and socio-cultural violence. Like the complex link existing between gender inequality and violence against women, interpersonal violence and socio-cultural violence cannot be studied in isolation. The study provides an opportunity for future research on exploring how changing norms have been altering the position and victimization of women. The study finds that changing gender norms and responsibilities have, on the one hand, provided agency and empowerment for women, but on the other hand, they have also increased their risk of being a victim, an area that requires further exploration. The study has identified that constant engagement with the study participants through follow-up studies ensures the richness of data, which can be useful information for a future research study design. The study can be helpful for policy development, social activists, leaders, and researchers as it discusses prevalent gender oppressions and victimization, which need to be addressed. The findings from the study can be helpful for dialogue imitation and for designing intervention projects aimed at providing justice and equality to women.

The study identifies the presence of gender inequalities and violence against women in the study area. The positional differences based on norms, institutions, and practices have assigned greater privileges to men. The concept of power-play devised by the study ascertains the maintenance of gender hierarchy to produce inequality further and victimization of women. The subjugation of women based on the social-cultural process, embedded belief systems, and norms prevent women from life opportunities and dignified life. It situates men at the highest rung of the gender and social ladder providing a comparative advantage for men to use power. Violence emerges as men’s use of power play and as a strategy for the continued subjugation of women. Sex trafficking as a consequence of inequality and violence has its origins in illiteracy and poverty with women falling prey to the deceit of traffickers. It is important that dreams for progression provide motivation for women to develop further but at the same time, dreams should not be exchanged with trickery and fraud offered by the traffickers. Awareness and attitudinal changes are imperative to challenge unequal norms, and practices, and reduce the risks of sex trafficking. This can help to develop negotiations for power-sharing which helps to reduce inequality, violence, and preparedness in chasing dreams. Changes at both individual and societal levels are necessary to develop a collective action for establishing belief systems and practices providing women with an equal position and reducing the risk of violence.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available due to privacy but are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to all the focus group discussion participants. The authors are indebted to Bhojraj Sharma, Deekshya Chaudhary, Subham Chaudhary, and Dev Kala Dhungana for their coordination and facilitation in reaching the discussion participants.

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PD, SKJ, and KS were involved in the study design. PD and KS developed the discussion guides. PD was responsible for the data collection and the data analysis. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Dahal, P., Joshi, S.K. & Swahnberg, K. A qualitative study on gender inequality and gender-based violence in Nepal. BMC Public Health 22 , 2005 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14389-x

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Disclosing Gender-Based Violence: A Qualitative Analysis of Professionals' and Women's Perspectives through a Discursive Approach

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• 1 Department of Epidemiology and Global Health, Umeå University, 90187 Umea, Sweden.
• 2 Department of Community Nursing, Preventive Medicine and Public Health and the History of Science, University of Alicante, 03009 Alicante, Spain.
• 3 CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), 28029 Madrid, Spain.
• 4 Public Health Research Group, University of Alicante, 03009 Alicante, Spain.
• 5 Group of Studies in Society, Education and Health (GESEC), Nursing and Physiotherapy Department, University of Lleida, 25008 Lleida, Spain.
• 6 Healthcare Research Group (GRECS), Biomedical Research Institute of Lleida (IRB), Josep Pifarré Fundation, 25198 Lleida, Spain.
• 7 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Institute of Health Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain.
• PMID: 36429401
• PMCID: PMC9690750
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph192214683

Supporting women to disclose gender-based violence (GBV) is a central feature of how healthcare and other welfare services address this problem. In this paper we take a discursive approach to analyse the process of disclosing GBV from the perspectives of young women who have been subjected to GBV and professionals working in the welfare system. Through a reflective thematic analysis of 13 interviews with young women who have been subjected to GBV and 17 with professionals working in different sectors of the welfare system, we developed four themes about how disclosure is perceived: (i) as a conversation between acquaintances; (ii) as 'no solution'; (iii) as a possible prerequisite for action; and (iv) as difficult because GBV is normalised. Even if disclosure is not the solution per se, it makes it possible to respond institutionally to GBV on an individual basis through the figure of the expert professional who is alert to signs, knows how to support disclosure, and has the power to legitimate women's claims of GBV. We acknowledge the possibilities that supporting disclosure brings for women subjected to GBV, but at the same time, problematise that it can re-centre expertise in the professional and place the responsibility on women.

Keywords: Spain; disclosure; discourse; gender-based violence; reflexive thematic analysis.

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Gender-based violence (GBV) against women with precarious legal status and their access to social protection in advanced welfare societies: an analytical contribution to reconstruct the research field and its institutional development

• Claudia Di Matteo   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-6504-2082 1 &
• Roberto Scaramuzzino 1  

Comparative Migration Studies volume  10 , Article number:  40 ( 2022 ) Cite this article

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The aim of this paper is to map the emergence and development of a research field around the topic of “gender-based violence (GBV) against women with precarious legal status and their access to social protection in advanced welfare societies”. We explore the academic knowledge production around this topic as a specific research field by using bibliometric data. We investigate the place occupied by scholars who publish in well-established journals, and their disciplines, in order to understand the relevance of different disciplines and groups of researchers in the knowledge production within the field. Our methodology includes analysis of co-authorship, cross-country collaboration, and co-citation. The search strategy is informed by discursive practices and knowledge production by influential international civil society actors (CSAs) involved in framing welfare responses to GBV against women with precarious legal status. Our results suggest that the knowledge produced in the field increased in terms of number of publications between 2010 and 2021, indicating a process of institutionalisation. Disciplines oriented towards certain groups of professionals such as clinical psychology, medicine, health, nursing, and social work, affiliated mainly to institutions in the US, Canada, and the EU, have a prominent role in knowledge production in this field. In our conclusions, we discuss the implications of these results in relation to gender studies and migration studies, along with some limitations of the use of bibliometrics software combined with an intersectionality approach.

Introduction

This study focuses on knowledge production in the field of gender-based violence (GBV) against women with precarious legal status and their access to social protection in advanced welfare societies. This choice allows us to focus on just one specific intersection of gender and migration studies: i.e. gender-based violence and women with precarious legal status. To approach our chosen field of research, we have looked to knowledge produced outside of academia as a point of departure. In this regard, as further explained in the Sect. 1.2, a propaedeutically qualitative exploration of grey literature was made to explore the ways in which some prominent civil society actors (CSAs) have internationally framed a) GBV as a public problem and b) public responses to it. In line with conceptualisations of GBV against women developed by internationally recognised CSAs, we use specific terminology to map academic authors and disciplines that contribute to knowledge production within this field.

The field of research explored in this paper has increasing relevance, given the large number of people living outside protection systems as a consequence of the exclusionary effect of institutionalised categories that restrict entitlements based on the legal status of migrants. The question of access to social protection systems for individuals with precarious legal status calls attention to the welfare-migration nexus (Ryndyk, Sutter, and Odden, 2021 ). In order to access social rights and entitlements (i.e., social protection systems), human beings need to be recognised as members of particular rights regimes (e.g., citizen regimes/citizenship; human rights regimes/humanitarian protection; migration regimes/residence) (Benhabib, 2004 ). In this regard, this study looks exclusively at knowledge production that refers to those with “precarious legal status”, operationalised as people who are subject to migration controls but have not been granted refugee status, and are thus denied access to refugee resettlement programmes. More specifically, by “women with precarious legal status” (see Table 1 ), we refer to asylum seekers and refused asylum requests; special visa categories, such as spousal and temporary workers (framed here as immigrant); and some human rights cases, such as migrants who have overstayed their visa (framed as displaced or stateless).

In the following section, we present the theoretical background to our research, with particular attention given to the debate around the conceptualisation of GBV against women and its links with feminist, intersectional, post-colonial, and post-national discourses and actors. Further, we briefly introduce membership regimes in respect to human/social rights and entitlements and their conceptualisation around categories used by non-state actors. This is propaedeutically to clarify the background literature that directly informs our study.

Conceptualisation of gender-based violence (GBV) against women with precarious legal status and their access to social protection in advanced welfare societies

Our theoretical framework draws on different bodies of literature and conceptualisations of GBV against women with precarious legal status and their access to social protection in advanced welfare societies.

Current discussion at the cutting edge of gender and migration

Firstly, we explore feminist migration scholars and the conceptualisation of gender in migration studies . Recent studies focusing on knowledge production in the field of migration research (Levy et al., 2020 ; Sirckeci et al., 2017 ), and with particular attention to feminist analysis within migration studies (Kelson & DeLaet, 1999 ; Kofman, 2020 ; Morokvasic, 1984 ; Nawyn, 2010 ), have suggested that gender should be understood as “more than an individual-level binary category ascribed at birth (…) It is, rather, a system of power relations that permeates every aspect of the migration experience” (Nawyn, 2010 , p.760). Despite the increased incorporation of gender analysis into migration research, it has also been highlighted that there remains a degree of gender blindness among migration scholars (Kofman, 2020 ; King et al., 2006 , p.249), and that “gender (and often women) continues to be largely ignored” (Nawyn, 2010 , p.758). In this regard, transnational feminist scholars (Mohanty, 1988 ; Mukhopadhyay, 2015 ) have highlighted that the marginalization of colonial past as well as of race, ethnicity, sexual identity, class, and cast markers corresponds to a political act by those academics and activists who are in a position of power when addressing women’s rights and struggles. For instance, Mohanty ( 1988 ) pointed out that the knowledge produced around the “third world women” is constructed as an inherently homogenous monolithic group where women are subjected to a singular a-historical notion of male domination. Furthermore, it has been suggested (Mukhopadhyay, 2015 ) that scholars using specific analytic categories of sisterhood and sameness while referring to gender equality meant framing the problem of GBV as having a one-size-fits-all solution, without considering historical and contextual differences in terms of poverty, discrimination, and neocolonial power relations.

In recent years the complexities in the composition of migratory flows have been increasingly taken into consideration by scholars, whose renovated attention has been addressed to diversity in populations’ composition such as women and gender/sexual marginalised groups (e.g. LGBTQ +) (Haas, Castles, and Miller, 2014 ). Consequently, female international migration is also categorised looking at both the women’s positions in the economic market of the receiving country (ies) and their positions within the family. As an example, gendered categories have made it possible to investigate the different positions and experiences of male and female domestic workers from Filipino communities in Italy and Canada (Banfi, 2008 ; Parreñas, 2015 ). The results of the latest showed that not only do migration paths differ between male and female domestic workers, but that the experience of racial segregation into domestic work is different for men and for women. Finally, in terms of GBV and precarious legal status, the same investigation on gendered Filipino communities (Ambrosini, 2020 ; Parreñas, 2015 ) pointed out how the state’s construction of domestic work can leave women at the mercy of employment agencies (Canada) or in the precarity of irregular migration (Italy) (Ambrosini, 2020 ; Banfi, 2008 ; Parreñas, 2015 ).

Following this stream of research, our study looks at GBV as different forms of discrimination (ILGA, 2022 ) related not only to a specific ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, but also linked to “national regimes of citizenship, which are inherently exclusionary and produce separate legal codes and practices to differentiate groups of people within the same national space” (Bhuyan, 2012 , p.6).

The use of the term “women” does not directly exclude a variety of identity formations. Regarding the latter, the Brazilian philosopher Marcia Tiburi ( 2020 ) highlights that feminist discourses on “women, black women, black Brazilian women, black Brazilian trans-women, black Brazilian Trans Muslim Lesbian Women have both a political potential of affirmation and a risk of social fragmentation depending to different interests in time and space” (Tiburi, 2020 , p.96). In our study, the aim is to analyse in bibliometric terms a specific stream of literature that frame the problem and the solutions to GBV against women having a precarious legal status in the specific context of welfare advanced societies, with the aim to investigate the power relations in terms of knowledge production.

Secondly, our study draws on conceptualizations of gender-based violence (GBV) and membership regimes in advanced welfare societies. A recent study was carried out by Ozcurumez et al. ( 2021 ) as part of a larger international project called SEREDA, Footnote 1 which sought to investigate the conceptualisation of GBV in forced migration through a scoping review. Using search terms limited to only two simple queries – “Sexual and Gender-based Violence” and “Sexual and Gender-based violence and refugees” – Ozcurumez et al., ( 2021 , p.66) retrieved respectively 292 and 91 scholarly articles and policy reports published in English between 1993 and 2018. What they found was that GBV is conceptualised mostly in relation to women (Ozcurumez et al., 2021 , p. 69), limiting the analysis of violence occurring in specific contexts such as conflict zones, war, and refugee camps. The scoping review revealed that the literature focused mostly on geopolitical areas such as Sierra Leone, Syria, Afghanistan, Liberia, and Lebanon, confining violence in spatial territories without considering how gendered experiences of violence are embedded in the displacement journey, on the way towards resettlement contexts (Ozcurumez et al., 2021 , pp. 67–69). The confinement of GBV to specific geopolitical spaces with an emphasis on the “homeland” was also confirmed by the literature on sex trafficking (Davidson, 2001 ; Watts & Zimmerman, 2002 , in Nawyn, 2010 ; Palmary, 2021 ), which referred mainly to violence experienced by women in their country of origin.

Concerning the conceptualisation of GBV exclusively in contexts of forced migration, post-colonial feminist scholars (Abu-Lughod, 2011 , 2013 ; Fassin & Barnett, 2016 ; Martinsson and Griffin, 2016 ; Ozcurumez et al., 2021 ; Spivak, 1988 , 2012 ) have pointed out how the use of the concepts of “violence” and “women” contribute to reinforcing the positive image of male white saviours in humanitarian contexts who rescue black women from wild and uncivilised societies. While Nawyn ( 2010 ) has pointed out that the field of migration studies has not incorporated much of the findings related to GBV into mainstream research (Nawyn, 2010 , p.758), Ozcurumez et al. ( 2021 ) advocate for including both resettlement contexts and intersectional approaches in the study of GBV in the context of migration, looking not only to GBV migration experiences across time and space, but also to social protection responses involving a plurality of state and non-state actors.

Post-national approaches to migrants´ access to welfare regimes

Shifting our attention from humanitarian settings to resettlements contexts in welfare advanced society, a key issue discussed among post-national migration scholars (Abji, 2016 ; Pinelli, 2020 , 2021 ; Scheibelhofer, 2022 ) is that governments in resettlement contexts are reluctant to find permanent political solutions (Abji, 2016 ) to GBV experienced by migrants with precarious legal status. Consequently, responsibility for access to social protection systems in the context of resettlement is displaced from the state to civil society as key actors involved in the enforcement of human rights (e.g., in the form of advocacy, political action, and/or service provision). With reference to GBV interventions accessed by migrant women with precarious legal status in Western liberal democracies, attention has been drawn to the role of professionals working within the social protection systems and in organisational settings like CSAs in advocating for anti-deportation policies and in addressing violence against such women within debordering practices (Abji, 2017 ).

Furthermore, although human rights in resettlement contexts are formally recognised within membership regimes (e.g., citizenship, residency, humanitarian protection) (Benhabib, 2004 ), access to these fundamental rights still requires the intervention of a state authority which must formally recognise them (Abji, 2016 ). In this sense, the membership regimes fall short to acknowledge the variability and precarity of the legal and administrative real-life conditions of migrants in resettlement contexts (e.g., migrant populations displaced for longer periods of time, who might relocate to different states, regions, and cities depending on family structures, generational evolution, social networks, mixed marriages, and other circumstances linked to geopolitical processes), which in turn has real consequences for access to institutionalised social protection systems (Ryndyk et al., 2021 ).

The reality of increasing numbers of people living outside protection systems, such as women victims of GBV with precarious legal status, underlines the relevance of this research area. In our methodology, we use terminology that allows us to map studies and literature involving production of knowledge on GBV that takes into consideration both the resettlement context and access to social protection systems in advanced welfare societies (Høgsbro and Shaw, 2018 ). Thirdly, we draw on the influence of CSAs on the conceptualisation of GBV in the international and national policy arena. In democratic welfare states, civil society is seen as key actors involved in the enforcement of human rights through advocacy, political action, and/or service provision (Hodgkinson & Foley, 2003 ; Trägårdh, 2007 ; Arvidson, Johansson, Scaramuzzino, 2018 ). As a consequence, in resettlement contexts, the conceptualisation of GBV is historical linked to the fight against violence (Johansson & Hvinden, 2007 ) as part of “the achievement of women´s rights” (Rosche, 2016 ) and strongly related to feminist movements and CSAs (e.g., INGOs, NGOs, advocacy groups). In her work, Rosche ( 2016 ) points out the great influence over the process of inclusion of gender equality in the Agenda 2030 held by UN offices (i.e., UN Women) with their headquarters based in New York, as well as the primary involvement of INGOs based in EU countries, such as Oxfam (The Netherlands), GADN (UK), and Care International (Switzerland), alongside other women's rights and international organisations (i.e., Action Aid, International Planned Parenthood Federation). The goal of ending violence against women declared by international CSAs (Rosche, 2016 ) was rapidly extended to other international policy domains, such as migration, within a process of negotiations among UN member states that concluded in 2018 with the adoption of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration (GC) (IOM, ). In this context, the International Organisation for Migration, IOM (headquartered in Germany) played a major role in negotiating the adoption of the GC at the UN General Assembly, drawing a clear connection between the GC and the Agenda 2030 gender equality goal (IOM, ).

In sum, gender mainstreaming and gender/migration policy discourses are tied to conceptualisation of GBV produced by both UN offices (i.e., UN Women) and CSAs headquartered mainly in Western countries. The latter organisations are not only prominent voices in framing the problem of GBV in the international policy arena, but also provide support and resources for the implementation of social protection activities in advanced welfare societies.

Methods and tools

Adapting the process of systematic literature review to the intersectionality-informed analysis.

In the previous paragraphs, we presented GBV against women as a category of analysis, invoked by feminist migration scholars to help conceptualise how structures of power and inequalities operate across time and space. We further highlighted the feminist critique of migration studies that points to GBV as being confined exclusively to conflict and refugee contexts. Finally, we discussed the importance of the discursive production of both the public problem of GBV and its public solution (e.g., social protection) by CSAs in democratic welfare states. Drawing on these debates, this study analyses the position of scholars involved in knowledge production on GBV against women with precarious legal status and their access to social protection in advanced welfare societies.

The choice of methodology is made following the assumption that a common terminology used both within and outside academia reinforces a specific conceptualisation of GBV in specific resettlement contexts. In this regard, before operationalising our aim into research questions and developing a mapping strategy, we gave analytical attention to grey literature, limited to the following: a report titled “The Situation of Women Specialist Support Services in Europe” (WAVE, 2019 ) and documents and material produced by recent (2016–2020) EU-funded projects such as the “Co-creating Counselling Method for Refugee Women GBV Victims” (Inka et al., 2019 ), the “SWIM- Safe Women in Migration” project (Fondazione L’Albero della Vita, 2020 ), and “PROVIDE – Proximity on Violence: Defence and Equity” (ISMU, 2020 ). These projects were selected because they all involve INGOs, or international networks of NGOs involved in policy making in the field of GBV and migration. All these projects address specific forms of violence in migration contexts across time and space; and all are focused on specific forms of interventions in resettlement contexts and are not limited to refugee resettlement programmes. All the reports inform the key debate on the division of responsibilities concerning welfare responses to GBV experienced by migrant women with precarious legal status. Finally, all projects were selected partly because they have strong links to CSAs operating under the EU’s geopolitical influence, which have a significant impact on the international conceptualisation of GBV in the context of migration. Nevertheless, the criteria used to select the grey literature bring certain limitations; these are discussed in paragraph 5.

The method of bibliometric analysis and its application in this study

Building on a bibliometrics analysis of the literature, this study investigates whether and how GBV as a category of analysis takes a prominent position in academic journals, exploring the place occupied by scholars who publish in well-established journals, and their disciplines, in order to understand the relevance of GBV within the scientific academic landscape. Given the existing limitations of bibliometric analysis (Kofman, 2020 ; Levy et al., 2020 ), our methodology included analysis of co-authorship, cross-country collaborations, and co-citation.

The theoretical framework of this study draws on intersectionality as a concept (Hoffart, 2021 ; Moradi and Grzanka, 2017 ; Nash, 2014 ; Kofman, 2020 ) that captures the advantages and disadvantages experienced by all people within a structural system of power (CIJ, 2020). For the scope of this study, we used the Intersectionality-Based Policy Analysis Framework (IBPA) (Hankivisky, 2012 ) Footnote 2 as a guiding tool to develop the research questions. The analytical point of departure was to identify “the problem” and apply the following question and related sub-question to our aim: How have representations of “the problem” come about? Who was involved in defining the problem in this way? What types of evidence were used? (Hankivisky, 2012 , p. 39) . In accordance with our aim, the first research question (RQ1) of our study can be formulated as follows: Who produces the knowledge related to the problem of GBV against women with precarious legal status? How does the research community come about over time (i.e., historically) and in space (i.e., geographically and institutionally)?

In the second stage, the authors used the equity principle of the IBPA framework Footnote 3 in combination with the question: What are the current policy responses to the problem? (Hankivisky, 2012 , p. 39) . In this sense, the aim was to identify the research (and researchers) involved in the production of knowledge that concerns both the representation of the problem “GBV against women with precarious legal status” and its political outcome, represented by policy responses. Consequently, the second research question (RQ2) was: Does the community of researchers produce knowledge related to welfare responses or the absence of responses to GBV against women with precarious legal status?

The next step was to combine the format of the IBPA with the process of systematic literature review (Cochrane, 2019 ) for the identification of relevant documents. For the identification of the literature, the authors created a search strategy (Cochrane, 2019 ), using a complex query Footnote 4 which was tested in different databases. In the process of systematic literature review, the complex query is composed of multiple interrelated terms (Cochrane, 2019 ). The use of each term can be connected to truncation (e.g., asterisks) and proximity elements (e.g., AND, OR, W2, W5) in order to refine the search results (see footnote). However, adding or removing terms or punctuation in a query might disproportionally affect the results, depending on the databases used. Table 1 displays the final version of the complex query. Initially, we ran six official trials including various terms under each column in the table (Public Problem, Target Group, and Public Responses) but the results were imbalanced (e.g., 0 documents retrieved in some databases). Furthermore, terminology related to refugees is avoided in the query because, as explained above, our aim was to focus on the knowledge produced concerning migrant women with precarious legal status. Limitations associated with this decision are discussed in Sect. 5.

The terminology composing the complex query was derived from the research questions (see Table 1 ) stated above. We again emphasise that the terminology used here in relation to the identified problem, such as “GBV against women with precarious legal status” and “public responses and interventions”, is influenced by the grey literature produced by relevant international CSAs and limited to the scope of the study, which is to identify conceptual elements inside academia (i.e., in publications) which are shared and commonly used outside the academic field of knowledge production (i.e., among CSAs).

Following the evidence-based protocols of systematic reviews (see Fig.  1 below), metadata were collected from 10 databases, covering multiple sources of knowledge. A filter was added which meant that only documents published after the year 2010 were included. This decision was made because very few records could be found for the previous years, as well as because 2010 marked the political threshold for the Istanbul Convention (2011), the first legally binding policy tool in the field of violence against (migrant) women. 3,176 records were identified, and after duplicates were removed in Zotero, 2,790 records remained. After additional software removal in Ryaan, the number of records remaining was 2,734 (Fig.  1 ). Given the relatively high number of records identified, VOSviewer software (van Eck & Waltman, 2020 ) was used to perform bibliometric analyses. When using software with bibliographic data from different sources, data cleaning must be performed to produce a structured file in which all the data imported display the same comparable variables.

Identification and selection of relevant literature

In the process of data cleaning, two limitations were encountered. First, it was impossible to access and format the same information in all the databases, leading to the decision to include only data retrieved from Scopus. This decision was based on the fact that 68.4% of records included in the Zotero library before duplicate removal were gathered using Scopus. Furthermore, the database provides comprehensive data, such as citation information (i.e., author, document title, sources, EID, year), bibliographic information (i.e., affiliation, correspondence address, editor), abstract information (i.e., complete abstract, author keywords, index keywords), funding details, and additional information such as the list of references used in every document extracted. The second limitation at this stage of the systematic literature review is related to the impossibility of including research published in languages other than English, which in turn automatically excludes experiences from particular settings.

Analysis of the institutional field

In the following sections, the field of “GBV against women with precarious legal status and their access to social protection in advanced welfare societies” is explored in bibliometric terms. The number of documents published between 2010 and 2021 (Fig.  2 ) shows consistent growth. The decline seen in 2021 probably refers to the fact that the analysis is based only on publications released during a five-month period from January to May of 2021.

Documents published per year

Internationally, GBV as policy issue and related debates entered the political space in 2011, leading to the Council of Europe’s approval of the Istanbul Convention. The Convention has been strongly advocated for by feminist movements and represents the first legally binding treaty created to tackle violence against women. Articles 60 and 61 refer explicitly to violence against women in the context of migration (e.g., asylum claims and non-refoulement principles). The Convention has since been adopted by EU member states and non-member states such as the US, Canada, and Japan.

The intensified growth in publications reached its peak in 2020, with 304 publications registered in Scopus, along with 204 documents published from January to May 2021 (a relatively high number for a five-month period) and can be understood as a token of the recent but continuous institutional development of the field. If we look at the total number of documents published by source (Fig.  3 ), we see that the journals most active in the last decade are the Journal of Interpersonal Violence , which is oriented towards the field of clinical and applied psychology; Violence Against Women , which is specialised in subject areas such as law, gender studies, and political science; and the Journal of Family Violence , which publishes research in law, political science, and clinical psychology.

Total number of published documents by source—years 2010/2021

In our dataset, the first source related directly to the field of migration is the Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health , which, along with Health Care for Women International , publishes in the field of international health, medicine, and epidemiology. Finally, lower in the ranking we found Women’s Studies International Forum , which represents the field of development studies, education, sociology, and political science; Journal of Refugee Studies , which relates to the area of development, international relations, and political science; and the Journal of Immigrant and Refugees’ Studies , publishing in the field of geography, demography, development, and health.

Furthermore, we analysed the annual total number of publications by the journals included in our dataset. In particular, we examined the years between 2010 and 2015, as we were interested in the foundational knowledge on which our subject matter rests.

Table 2 displays the journals that published the most per year (in bold); selected journals in migration studies (in bold) that published at least three items; and, finally, selected journals in migration studies (in bold) that published in 2010, and therefore initiated the production of knowledge at the cutting edge of GBV and migration, but eventually did not pursue the topic (fewer later publications after 2010).

Overall, despite consistent growth in the number of publications over the first five years, we can observe (Table 2 ) that, in 2010, the leading journals were, again, Violence Against Women , Journal of Family Violence , Journal of Interpersonal Violence , and Issues in Mental Health Nursing . This indicates that the aspects of migration, ethnicity, and race are mainly absorbed by the disciplines of law, health, and medicine when it comes to the study of gender-based violence within families or interpersonal relations. Still looking at 2010, Social Politics along with two publications from Princeton University and the State University of New York respectively, Refugee Survey Quarterly , The Journal of Refugee Studies , and The Review of International Political Economy were all active in the field. These findings indicate an initial and tentative interest in considering gender, sexuality, and migration not as separate clusters, but rather interlocking systems of power with political relevance. Nevertheless, this promising emerging body of knowledge did not last over time, as confirmed by an analysis of the publications from 2011 to 2015. Indeed, the literature developed mostly around the category of GBV described in terms of “women’s issues”, “family issues”, and “health issues”. Therefore, categories of race and ethnicity are assimilated into investigations of the physical, mental, and legal practical consequences of violence, with little attention paid to the political and transformative perspectives of women in international migration processes. Finally, we highlight that knowledge specifically addressing themes related to culture and sexuality, as well as to the social aspects of violence, such as that produced by journals like Sexuality Research and Social Policy , the British Journal of Social Work , and Affilia—the Journal of Women and Social Work , increased between 2012 and 2015.

Based on this overview of the leading journals in the field, we can conclude that, with some exceptions, the epistemic community of migration studies tends to disappear when the focus is on GBV in resettlement contexts. Further, as explained previously, this study aims to identify studies focused on representing GBV while also framing public responses and interventions. In other words, such knowledge has a political influence in legitimising the categories of “migrants” entitled to specific forms of social protection. In this sense, the prepositions related to “gender” and “violence” do not have the power of affirmation in the field of migration studies, nor do prepositions related to “migration” have the power of affirmation in gender-related disciplines, as evinced by the relatively low number of publications by gender-related journals. The result is a double exclusion when the grammatic of gender intersects that of migration reproducing established disciplinary hierarchies in academia. Thus, when Levy et al. ( 2020 ) describe the institutionalisation of migration studies as a research field, the authors point to the evolutionary development of discursive regimes related to race, ethnicity, culture, refugees, transnationalism, and social development, alongside the traditional discursive practices related to labour market/economy, demography, and psychology, missing out the gender studies, development studies, and social work studies present in our dataset.

Reconstruction of structural and relational components of the field

Citation networks.

A citation analysis of the 2,174 documents was conducted using VOSviewer. When working with citation links in VOSviewer (van Eck & Waltman, 2020 ), the citation attributes indicate the number of citations of a document (Table 3 ) or the total number of citations of all documents published by an author (Table 4 ). The weight indicates the importance of an item (in our case, items are authors and documents). The more important the item, the greater its weight (Van Eck & Waltman, 2020 ). In addition, we analysed citations while looking at the disciplines and research fields to which the authors belong (Tables 3 and 4 ). Disciplines and research fields have been coded mostly based on the institutions to which the authors were affiliated. It is interesting to note that the largest research field in this selection, by number of citations, is medicine (n.7). If we also include psychiatry and psychology, we see that most of the works are within the broader field of “health” (n.11). Other relevant fields are sociology/social work (n.5) and, finally, international affairs/relations (n.4). It is not surprising that some of the documents most cited are written by authors focused on migration or women’s studies.

Further, authors connected to English-speaking institutions dominate this selection of publications, with half of publications from the US, five from the UK, three from Canada, and two from Australia.

When we turn to the 20 most cited authors within the database, and some of the attributes that characterise them (Table 4 ), the dominance of medicine/health is confirmed by the higher-weight citation of 12 authors in this field.

Within the very broad field of medicine/health, we find a variety of subfields. It is not surprising to find three researchers with profiles related to GBV and health. Other themes include sexual health (n. 3), nursing (n. 2), health care (n. 2), and clinical psychology (n.1). The remaining eight authors can be linked to the social sciences, specifically the disciplines of social work (n. 5), social psychology (n.2), and sociology (n.1). Also, the dominance of the English-speaking world is clear, with a few exceptions: i.e., Spain (n.3) and Israel (n.1).

It is also interesting to note that respective analyses of the most cited publications and authors produce similar results, but with certain salient differences. This is also confirmed by the fact that only six of the 20 most cited authors have written at least one of the 20 most cited publications, all of which are within the field of medical/health research.

On the one hand, this result might be due to differing practices of co-authorship between disciplines, where publications within the field of medicine/health often have several co-authors (e.g., 20 +), creating a cumulative effect on citations of authors. On the other hand, the recognition of GBV as a ground of social protection of migrant women also came with the medical, psychological, and social conceptualisation of violence as a “traumatic experience” of vulnerable women groups or women victims (Fassin & Barnett, 2016 ). In this sense, the knowledge created by scholars in health- and social work-related disciplines confirms a prevalent humanitarian mission to identify mechanisms of protection and treatment of the symptoms of traumatic experiences of violence (Fassin & Rechtman, 2009 ).

Co-authorship network

A co-authorship analysis was conducted in VOSviewer to frame the structure and the intensity of collaborations among researchers from different countries and disciplines. In this sense, we can describe the power relations in the field in terms of number of collaborations (co-authorship by authors, Fig.  4 ) and networking (co-authorship by countries, Fig.  5 ). Of the 5,418 authors in the dataset, 303 authored at least three documents between 2010 and 2021. For each of these 303 authors, we calculated the total strength of the co-authorship (i.e., the total strength of the co-authorship links between a given researcher and other researchers).

Visualisation map of co-authorship links

Visualisation map of co-authorships links by countries

The co-authorship filter (authors with at least three documents in co-authorship) was used to identify scholars who are more active in terms of collaborations and publications (single-authored documents are not included in this selection). The map below seems to indicate that authors from cluster 4 (yellow) and cluster 6 (light blue) work more closely, creating an interdisciplinary field between social work and nursing. It is interesting to note that some of the authors included in those two clusters (i.e., Messing, Campbell, and Glass) are the most cited authors in our dataset (Table 4 ), confirming the prominence of US “clinical” or “practice-oriented” scholars.

Clusters 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, and 12 confirm again the production of knowledge within collaborations between the fields of health, nursing, psychology, and social work. Worth mentioning are clusters 10 (pink) and 9 (pale violet), in which disciplines such as health, medicine, and nursing are more oriented towards ethnic minority groups (e.g., African Americans, internally displaced women) and gender/sex minority groups (LGBTQA + , queer communities). Cluster 9 also includes scholars in the field of critical studies, using qualitative approaches such as participatory methods. Finally, cluster 11 (light green) stands somewhat apart, with scholars working in the field of psychology/social work, specialising in child welfare, violence, and trauma.

Looking at country networking (co-authorship analysis based on authors’ affiliations) (Fig.  5 ), at the centre of the map below, the US shows the largest overall output in terms of co-authorship links. Nevertheless, the US stands on its own (isolated at the centre of the map), reflecting its overall lower weight of international co-authorships compared to the total number of documents published. US scholars collaborate most closely with Canada, followed by the UK, Australia, and South Asian and South American countries. On the contrary, European countries conform to the international trend, and particularly strong links exist between the UK and Nordic countries. Spain, Italy, Germany, and France display a slightly different international trend, oriented bidirectionally: international collaborations have developed between EU countries and with non-EU countries. This two-dimensional internationalisation process might be explained by linguistic factors (e.g., France collaborates with Canada; Spain with Mexico and Colombia).

In Oceania and Asia as well, the development of international collaborations is comparatively lower and unevenly distributed. Finally, within African countries, South Africa displays a significant international trend, with a high proportion of links with Australia, the EU, Canada, and the US.

Discussions and conclusions

As shown in the results, the growth of publications between 2010 and 2021 testifies to a process of institutionalisation of GBV against women in resettlement contexts, which has developed around disciplines such as clinical psychology, medicine, health, nursing, and social work.

Our results indicate that the predominance of documents published in English by scholars collaborating within professional practice-oriented disciplines developed mainly in the US, Canada, and the EU. This might indicate that those scholars and their institutional affiliations occupy a position of relative power in the production of knowledge within their respective disciplines. Furthermore, the documents analysed in our dataset belong to specific disciplines such as medicine, health, psychiatry, psychology, and nursing, followed by social work and sociology. It is interesting to notice that migration studies have a less prominent position in our database, especially if we look at the 25 journals where the 25 most-cited migration studies articles where published (according to a recent bibliometrics analysis by Sirkeci et al., 2017 ) none of which were present in our database.

As reported by Fassin and Barnett ( 2016 , pp. 89–90), under pressure from feminist and gay rights movements, the Geneva Convention was updated to include recognition of persecution based on gender and sexual orientation. Its inclusion was legitimised based on the humanitarian aim of protecting women and liberating them from patriarchal domination (Fassin & Barnett, 2016 ). In the knowledge produced by scholars in fields connected to health and social work, we also see evidence of this humanitarian mission to identify mechanisms of protection for migrant women, facing the risk to shift attention away from structural forms of power and inequalities to focus instead on questions such as what the symptoms of traumatic experience are, and who is responsible and must therefore pay for social interventions and treatment (Fassin & Barnett, 2016 ). The community of practice-oriented scholars poses the question: “What can we do to help women who experience violence in the context of migration?”. To a certain extent, they also try to propose feasible short- and medium-term policy solutions and interventions (Hankivisky, 2012 ). At the same time, the transformative sides of the question —including what inequalities actually exist in relation to the problem; the identification, assurance, and implementation of possible long-term transformative solutions; and the measurement of outcomes to ensure that inequities are reduced — seem less relevant (Hankivisky, 2012 , pp. 41–42).

Finally, the US and Canada seem to represent self-referential actors (Fig.  5 ) while the UK and EU member states displayed a higher degree of international collaboration (the absolute number of international authorships based on the overall number of documents published by each country). This might be connected with the choice of terms used in our search and with the scope of our study, which was to identify documents published within the field of GBV against women with precarious legal status and their access to social protection in advanced welfare societies. Indeed, instrumental for international CSAs outside of academia is the conceptualisation of GBV in terms of both public problems to be tackled and public solutions to be identified. In the same way, within the academic field claim makers whose work is oriented towards both scientific and specific policy/practices are nurses, social workers, psychologists, physiatrists, and doctors, i.e., street-level bureaucrats with the public mission of rescuing, protecting, and rehabilitating by deploying specific values, work ethics, and beliefs that are communicated in the form of administrative practices, categories, classifications, variables, and definitions (Yanow, 2003 , pp. 8–9). In this sense, the production of knowledge responds to a practical logic, what Bourdieu called la raison pratique (Bourdieu, 1994 ), which serves to reflect, represent, describe, and give meaning to the everyday encounters of practitioners working not only in public agencies but also in civil society organisations (NGOs, INGOs, associations), and facing the double pressure of treating the symptoms of the violence on the one hand, and on the other, navigating social protection systems which restrict the possibilities for migrant women with precarious legal status to access their social rights in resettlement contexts.

The result showing an increasing academic knowledge production oriented towards the professional groups that are supposed to meet the needs of migrant women exposed to GBV rhymes well with the relevance of the issue and might be crucial to further develop and improve services that are based on scientific data and knowledge.

Limitations

Choice of the grey literature and terminology.

The grey literature is limited to international collaborations within EU countries, and it is not exhaustive. Further research could explore international collaborations in resettlement countries encompassing the EU states and CSAs. In this way, the complex query could be enriched with key terms that were not included in this exploratory bibliometric study. Suggested terms to be included are “survivors”, “psycho-social support”, “irregular migrant”, “host country”, and “LGBTQA + ”. Further research might also expand the bibliometrics analysis to include knowledge production looking at different membership regimes not exclusively focused on precarious legal status, which means including terms such as “refugee”, “refugee camps”, and “exile”.

Choice of bibliometrics analysis and literature review

Last, but not least, the authors must address the limitations of evidence-based methods and tools. The process of a systematic literature review and a bibliometric analysis of metadata, alongside the IBPA interpretative approach, helped in reconstructing the institutionalisation of the research field. The digital tools and the indexed databases assume the shape of a Trojan horse in the field of knowledge, using numerical measures to circulate high-quality peer-reviewed documents registered and made available by influential publishers who do not consider non-English and non-indexed, less-well institutionalised journals (Kofman, 2020 ). In addition, several research institutions, including universities, are developing technical tools for bibliometric analysis whose algorithms are heavily oriented towards commercial sources. Therefore, the results and rankings within our dataset have significant limitations in terms of the methods and tools used for the analysis. The systematic literature review and the bibliometric software have created, on the one hand, a transparent and reliable research framework. But on the other hand, the output of these sophisticated digital systems reproduces the structure of power, which strongly supports the English-speaking world and its commercial interests. Thus, this type of classification comes with a high risk of excluding influential researchers and voices outside traditional academic fields, who are nonetheless involved in important critical debates.

Availability of data and materials

The bibliographic metadata are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.

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CDM wrote paragraphs Introduction, Conceptualisation of gender-based violence (GBV) against women with precarious legal status and their access to social protection in advanced welfare societies, Current discussion at the cutting edge of Gender and Migration, Methods and tools, Analysis of the institutional field, Co-authorship network and Discussions and Conclusions, and the References. RS wrote Citation networks, cross-checked and edited the manuscript, and discussed with CDM key concepts and use of data and material. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Di Matteo, C., Scaramuzzino, R. Gender-based violence (GBV) against women with precarious legal status and their access to social protection in advanced welfare societies: an analytical contribution to reconstruct the research field and its institutional development. CMS 10 , 40 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-022-00314-z

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH

Gender-based violence in South Africa: A narrative reflection

Department of Practical Theology and Mission Studies, Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

Correspondence

The pervasiveness of gender-based violence (GBV) against women and children constitutes the most severe expression of discrimination and dehumanisation of women and children in South Africa. Even before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic came, domestic violence was already one of the greatest human rights violations. Women for centuries suffered different forms of violation and continue to struggle in subtle forms in the 21st century. This article investigates the sociocultural theories, narrative reflections and COVID-19 pandemic challenges associated with the prevalence of GBV in South Africa. The article argues that patriarchal culture, religion, gender norms, lockdown and violence in South Africa perpetuate gender-based abuse. Therefore, the article unfolds this research through a literature review and narrative approach which is used to allow the co-researchers to share their stories. The article embarks on sociocultural experiences, the scourge of GBV in South Africa, the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, qualitative interviews and theological reflections and concludes by suggesting future possibilities to fight GBV. CONTRIBUTION : This article contributes to an understanding that abafazi nabantwana baphefumla ngenxeba [women and children are breathing through the wound] amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. It discusses the prevalence of GBV, the intersection of religious cultural effects, social sciences, gender inequality and the continued oppression of women and children

Keywords : gender-based violence; narrative; violence; sociocultural; COVID-19 pandemic; qualitative interviews; practical theology; South Africa.

Introduction

I have been reading and reflecting on social critical matters affecting 'women and children in South Africa'. Also, listening narratives of violence and sociocultural aspects that probably escalate the gender-based violence (GBV) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. I observed the theme of the conference, Discerning Times, Doing Practical Theology in a Post-Pandemic World. 1 The topic has been a challenging one concerning questions that can be presented in the post-pandemic world: where we have been, where we are and where we are going? Is COVID-19 gone for now or gone for good or in remission? This article is driven by the gross killings of women and children in South Africa under lockdown regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ward (2017:5) defines 'Practical Theology as any way of thinking that takes both practices and theology seriously'. In this regard, practical theology responds to the contextual needs of the church and society. The article attempts to respond to this national crisis and the ramification of the pandemic through a literature review, narrative inquiry and a practical theological reflection. In this article, we shall listen to the co-researcher's narratives and interpretations concerning GBV during COVID-19. This will be done using narrative research and qualitative interviews. Literature studies reveal that 'gender abuse, domestic violence and sexual assault affect anyone, regardless of race, age, gender, religion, culture, social class or sexuality' (Boonzaier & De la Rey 2004:444; Ratele 2008). The methodology of the study follows the qualitative research design grounded in the narrative theoretical framework. Narratives have been accepted as a particularly instructive method of studying the human drive for meaning (Moro et al. 2008:9), and through narration, co-researchers construct meaning (Chase 2005:2).

This article aims to discover the meaning, social constructs and experiences that probably led to this gross perpetual violation of the rights of women and children during the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Police Minister Bheki Cele (Comins 2021:1) 'released the latest crime statistics between July and September 2021 that 9556 people, most of whom were women, were raped'. In addition to that (Vellai 2021:1), 'Over 9500 gender-based violence cases were reported, 13 000 cases of domestic violence and during the quarter 897 women were murdered'. Vellai (2021) states that 'sexual offence cases increased by 4.7%, with 9556 rapes between July and September up to 7.1% from the previous year's second quarter 8922'. President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed that 'these statistics are shameful, we are in the grip of a relentless war, being waged on the bodies of women and children, despite our best efforts, there are no signs of abating' (Desk of the President, 22 November 2021).

A sociocultural theory

This study contends that sociocultural factors such as language use, customs, belief systems and 'gender inequality exacerbate gender-based abuse' (Ratele 2008:10). The use of male-dominant language in households and African cultural practices, such as lobola and ulwaluko , 2 'indirect reinforces abuse against women' (Frieslaar & Masango 2021:4). Various factors, including 'individual characteristics, family dynamics and socio-economic contexts interact with each other to form particular constructs that dehumanise women and children' (Matebeni 2014:22; Msibi 2013:109). For example, 'cultural practices that consider men as sole economic providers for women and children aggravate gender abuse'. Additionally, researchers contend that (Frieslaar & Masango 2021:4); 'when men are seen in this way, they are mainly perceived as providers and women as receivers of financial benefits even in intimate relationships'. According to Crowell and Burgess (eds. 1996:32), 'GBV is a complex phenomenon, a result of various factors operating at different levels'. Heise adds that (1998:262), 'the ecological model conceptualises violence, as a multifaceted phenomenon grounded in the interplay of personal, situational and sociocultural factors, each influencing the likelihood of GBV within a specific setting'. Lastly, Heise (2011:vii) says that one of the structural factors that affect this ecology is 'religious institutions and ideology, with its resultant messaging, beliefs and norms'. For example, some religious institutions support patriarchy and teach that divorce is a sin. As a result, some women stay in an abusive marriage relationship in obedience to their partners and God. Kobo (2016) argues vehemently against patriarchy that:

Patriarchy violates the life of a child who is brought up in such disintegrated spaces where she/he has to learn to preserve the status quo. How does it help us in producing responsible men that do not rape, physical abuse and assault women and children? (p. 4)

To affirm this, Bond-Nash (2002) argues that:

[ M ]any women are socialised to believe women are powerless and have no right to 'own' power and it becomes more painful when women as agents of socialisation drive this harmful trend. (p. 45)

In support, Bond-Nash (2002) alluded to, Rahma, Sili and Wati (2017) argue that:

These stereotypes are the wrong impression for women to gain a place in a public position. Even the challenge against women gaining position is not only opposed by the men but also by their sex which is women. (pp. 14-15)

The experiences related to the 'oppression faced by women necessitate a rational response' (Kobo 2018:3). How women at times articulate God concerning who he is blocks that rational response or at times women themselves perceive God as a male and that makes them inferior to men (Kobo 2018). The persistence of 'sociocultural norms, traditional beliefs and gender stereotypes is the most frequently cited obstacle', which perpetuates GBV (Kobo 2018). Msibi (2013:104) articulates that 'different treatment of boys and girls are strengthened by the culture, social norms and historical traditions of gender inequality'. In agreement with Msibi, in some African homes, boys are taught, disciplined and socialised differently from girls. Boys are taught to be strong, brave and leaders, hence the term indoda ayikhali [man does not shed tears, it is considered weakness] emerged. On the other hand, girls are socialised to behave well, cook and do house chores as future mothers.

Abafazi nabantwana baphefumla ngenxeba

The above sub-heading derived originally from the Xhosa 3 term Siphefumla ngenxeba 4 which was a reverberating term in every corner of the global community towards the end of 2019. Siphefumla ngenxeba is a term which was used on television by Outsurance vehicle insurance as an advert, in the same year 2019, the brutal murder of Ms Uyinene Mkrwetyana, the 19-year-old student at the University of Cape Town (Lyster 2019:1; cf. Rasool 2020) shattered everyone in South Africa. Ms Uyinene Mkrwetyana was strangled to death by a man working in the post office while she went to collect her parcel in the afternoon. The South African crisis concerning GBV prompted the president of South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa, to address the nation on 05 September 2019 and declare GBV as a national crisis. The rise of the slogan 'Am I next movement?' was co-opted by abafazi nabatwana baphefumla ngenxeba in South Africa (Lyster 2019:1). The notion was that amadoda abulala abafazi nabantwana [men are killing women and children], as there were other incidences where women and children were grossly killed in South Africa. It is stated that (Lyster 2019:1), 'a twenty-five-year-old boxing champion, Leighandre Jegels was shot dead by her ex-boyfriend in East London, a policeman, while she was driving'.

The Star (2018) newspaper reported that 'half of the women killed were murdered by someone with whom they had an intimate relationship'. The phrase andikwazi ukuphefumla [I cannot breathe] became popular all over the world in 2020 when George Perry Floyd was suffocated to death by a white policeman in the United States of America (CNN 2020). The phrases: 'I can't breathe, Am I next, Black lives matter and Siphefumla ngenxeba ', became slogans at awareness campaigns and protests in South Africa and worldwide against the brutal killing of women and children, racism, oppression and marginalisation. The World Health Organization (WHO) (2020) declares that 'violation and killing of women have become a global threat' (p. 1). The WHO (2020) states the following aspect:

Violence against women is highly prevalent. Intimate partner violence is the most common form of violence. Globally, 1 in 3 women worldwide has experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner or sexual violence by any perpetrator in their lifetime. Most of this is intimate partner violence. (p. 1)

The 'political instability, social ills, economic stress and the impact of COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated pre-existing toxic social norms and gender inequality' (Dlamini 2020:3). The increased psychological stress, fears of contracting a virus and financial challenges aggravated the level of GBV (UN Women 2020):

[ T ]he possibility of job loss and restricted movement, which requires victims and perpetrators to remain close and constant contact with one another, are just some of the more obvious factors which spike GBV during the global lockdown. (p. 3)

Dlamini (2020:4) articulates that, 'restriction of visits during COVID-19 lockdowns meant that fewer people, especially, family members, can spot abuse and neglect including GBV against women and girls in households'. The limitation on movement allowed the culprits to isolate the victims from social support and protective networks by using a virus as a manipulation tool to trap them in houses (Dlamini 2020; UN Women 2020):

[ A ]t the time when half of the world population was in lockdown, due to COVID-19, the number of women and girls between the ages of 15 and 49, who had been subjected to sexual and/or physical violence perpetrated by an intimate partner (GBV) was no less than 243 million. (n.p.)

President Ramaphosa (Ellis 2020:1) described femicide and the scourge of GBV that, 'one woman is killed every 3 hours in South Africa'. According to Mile (2020):

[ A ] woman dies at the hands of a partner, and as of June 2020, 51% of South African women had faced violence from their male partners; accounting for more than 14 million women. (p. 1)

Rasool (2020:65) espouses that 'some women may be reaching out for help, while others have less access to support and protection because of lockdown conditions. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the increasing number of GBV worsens the situation in South Africa. At least, '21 women and children were murdered in South Africa, during level-5 lockdown, five women killed in June alone' (June 2020, Catholic Bishops Conference). Ramaphosa called GBV 'second pandemic' in a country where 'COVID-19 infected over 97,000 people and killed 1,930' (Agenzia 2020:2). Germanos (2020:5) states that, 'the nature of violence and, in particular, gender-based violence (and even more particularly, during this pandemic) is indicative of a very disturbed societal psyche, with very serious social issues'.

The methodological approach

In this article, the narrative methodological approach is used. In her reflections, Moen (2006) places narrative research within the framework of sociocultural theory:

[ W ]here the challenge of this article is to examine and understand how human actions are related to the social context in which they occur and how and where they occur through growth. (p. 56)

It is described (Dlamini 2020:2; WHO 2021) that 'the most common narratives of GBV occur in the family, but it also takes place in other areas of society, private and public'. Muller (2009) states that:

[ T ]he narrative or social constructionist forces us to first listen to the stories of people struggling in real situations, not merely to a description of a general context, but to be confronted with a specific and concrete situation. (p. 295)

Narrative research : It is increasingly used in various studies, practices and experiences, chiefly because 'human beings are storytellers who individually and socially lead storied lives' (Connelly & Clandinin 1990:7). Narrative research is a study of how 'human beings experience the world, and narrative researchers collect these stories and write them' (Gudmundsdottir 2001:56). It has been shown in previous studies that the dominating narrative of patriarchy in South Africa (Davis & Meerkotter 2017:18) remains the key driver in the perpetration of GBV. This study endeavours to take the above issues further, exploring sociocultural narratives of GBV in a South African context, simultaneously attempting to address the research by listening to stories of the co-researchers during the COVID-19 pandemic:

[ … ] Our lives are multistoried, many stories are occurring at the same time and different stories can be told about the same events. No single story can be free of ambiguity or contradiction and no single story can encapsulate or handle all the contingencies of life[ … ]. (Morgan 2000:8; cf. White & Epston 1990:11)

Qualitative research : According to Rubin and Rubin 1995, 'qualitative interviewing is a way of finding out what others feel and think about their worlds'. Schurink (2003:3) states that 'qualitative research is concerned with how the social world is interpreted, understood, produced or experienced - it focuses on discovery, description and meaning'. While narrative theory views human beings as social actors who, through linguistic and cultural scripts, continuously make meaning of themselves and their interactions with other people (Crossley 2007:138), qualitative research takes place within what has been described as an interpretative paradigm (Denzin and Lincoln 2005).

Co-researchers : This qualitative study will comprise two co-researchers, a black man from Alexandra Gender-Based Violence Walking Support Centre and a coloured 5 woman who is a clinical psychologist from a Pretoria suburb. The co-researchers were selected because of their intense involvement in work related to violence, abuse, gender, sexual assault and counselling. They are Christians coming from different races, cultures, gender and class. Alexandra is a black underprivileged community township in Johannesburg separated by a highway from the highly affluent suburb of Sandton, and these cities are in Gauteng province. The co-researchers are aged between 30 and 40 years.

Consent and interviewing method : A consent for the study was obtained at multiple levels. In order to maintain the co-researchers' anonymity and confidentiality, names are removed from the article. The interviews were conducted on the zoom platform with the co-researcher from Alexandra and in person with the clinical psychologist. In each interview, it was explained that the researcher is interested in hearing the narratives that lead to the perverseness of GBV in South Africa particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a narrative interview, 'the agenda is flexible, open to change and only partially guided by the researcher's meaning frame' (Hollway & Jefferson 2000:34). The unstructured interview was guided by a broad open-ended question, aimed at eliciting the co-researchers' stories of their experience and understanding of GBV. The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim.

Narrative interpretations : The co-researchers' accounts were interpreted using a narrative approach. Therefore, 'a narrative research process can only be "understood and evaluated" in the light of narrative discourses' (Muller & Schoeman 2004:8). An understanding and interpretation of GBV stories, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, should be part of the research process.

A narrative interpretation interview process involved a repeated reading of the interview transcripts, to acquire a sense of an entire narrative. The transcripts were read by the researcher and sent to the co-researchers for verification and confirmation. Subsequent readings, which involved a more detailed interpretation, elicited general themes that are followed throughout the narratives. The narrative interviews were conducted in English. The narratives experienced by the co-researchers are 'informed by the society and culture in which they are situated' (Atkinson & Delmont 2006:167).

Themes emerged, integration of interviews and literature reflection

In the following section, the article focuses on the themes that emerged from the narratives, integration of interviews and literature reflection. The findings are illustrated using excerpts from the interview transcripts. The two co-researchers' excerpts have some commonalities, differences, critical arguments and convergences in their narratives. Moreover, Boonzaier and De la Rey (2004:449) state that; 'narrative and discursive researchers are less concerned about the "truth value" of participants' stories and more concerned with subjectivity, language and meaning'. Congruent with Rubin and Rubin (1995:3), 'qualitative research listens to people, describe how they understand the worlds, in which they live and work'. Qualitative research focuses on co-researchers, experiences and the context. Meaning is constructed and finds its expression in stories (Muller 2009). The illustrations of excerpts from both the male (M) and female (F) co-researchers are marked with (M) and (F) and attached numbers for clear discussion purposes. Due to the small sample size, participant information has been limited to protect anonymity.

Patriarchy and family

The literature states that the root cause of GBV is contributed by patriarchy and family construction. According to Klaasen (2018:2), 'centuries of hierarchy and patriarchy, in all facets of the identity of women and men, have made negative normative for girls and women'. In the following paragraph by the male co-researcher:

'Gender-based violence is broad and it is contributed by different factors, patriarchy and culture are one of the contributing factors, as we grew up, we knew back home that a man is the head of the family and gender-based violence is happening inside the families and in relationships, but not recognised. During the COVID-19 pandemic other men lost their jobs so these men grew up knowing that they had to support their families. These men started to have a problem with violence, and mental health challenges so these are the problems that came into effect during this time. You know that we come from different cultures and beliefs, so patriarchy is the culture and practice that we believe in.' (M)

The male co-researcher explains that although he is in an urban environment, GBV in men is precipitated by their home cultural and traditional family backgrounds. He says that, 'man is a head of the family and GBV is not easily recognised in family relationships'. The patriarchal culture of the Bible and our culture subscribe to same kind of socialisation that 'teaches that boys and men are to be leaders, authority figures, independent, strong and aggressive while girls and women are to be followers, obedient and dependent' (Maluleke & Nadar 2002:14-15). The aforementioned sentences are a saturated catastrophe in South Africa that abafazi nabantwana baphefumla ngenxeba ngenxa yamadoda [women and children are breathing through the wounds because of the evilness perpetuated by men]. The festering of GBV challenges the South African common phrase derived from the women of 1956 that wathinta abafazi, wathinta imbokodo uzofa 6 [you tampered with women, you struck a rock and you shall die].

The excerpt from a female co-researcher reflects:

'I think it is probably problems in people's backgrounds, the way they grew up in their family homes, and difficulties that could cause gender-based violence in their relationships. It could also be caused by childhood trauma that can affect your future relationship, it could carry you through your childhood until you are an adult, and your relationship will face problems. I think modelling the behaviour of parents is very important, like if you had a mother and father growing up and your father used to physically abuse your mother or verbally or sexually, you can get that behaviour. The children look up to their parents, they reciprocate that behaviour in their relationships and if the behaviour is negative, then they can take it with them into their relationships. However, some will dislike that behaviour and never do it and others could go with positive depending on the experience.' (F)

The female co-researcher shares the same views with the male co-researcher on patriarchy and home family backgrounds. She refers to childhood trauma and family modelling behaviour as critical factors that could lead to GBV. The psychologist, Albert Bandura (1925-2021) explains 'the link between violence exposure, a recurrence of violence; violence is considered a learned behaviour, acquired through modelling and reinforcement of the same behaviour by others' (Moffitt & Caspi 2003:113).

Masculinities

Men are expected to adhere to traditional and cultural norms which exist within a certain social construct. Ratele (2008:520) says 'men are not by nature men, they are imbued with ideas about male practices'. Men take pride in working, having money and providing for the family. In the paragraph below, the man argues about some traditional roles that are embedded in men in their families, and when men are unable to fulfil these roles, they feel emasculated. However, I differ with his interpretation of the African wedding song mentioned in the paragraph that the song is rather entrenching domestication than violence.

'When you get married, there is a traditional wedding song perpetrating violence, the one that says UMAKOTI NGOWETHU UZOSIPHEKELA ASIWASHELE , which means the bride is ours, she is going to clean, cook for the family of the man. So, if that is not happening that is where the violence starts firing up. The man is regarded as the financial provider, if the man is unemployed and does the house chores wholeheartedly and looks after the children by the belief of patriarchy he is considered a man EDLISIWEYO (bewitched through traditional medicine).' (M1)

The man gives an argument that GBV is indirectly entrenched by boys' parents. He mentions in the following statement that men and boys can become victims of GBV by being expected to comply with masculinity and gender traditional norms:

'The parents also perpetrate violence when saying to a boy child, you can't be beaten by a girl. By saying that, they do not understand that they are perpetuating violence, they expect a boy child to be strong and use masculinity.' (M2)

The female co-researcher presents her argument as follows:

'We grew up, learning from the Word and learning from our Christian grandparents, who believed in the Word, the scripture also says that GOD created Adam and also created Eve who came from Adam's rib. This comes from many centuries, that is how we grew up and that is possibly why males would have picked the concept of gender-based violence because we grow up with stronger male figures and it is only changing now. But, it has not changed enough, women are still submissive and they are meant to be quiet, but it will possibly change with our kids if they see the behaviour of our generation.' (F1)

The female co-researcher argues that the historical concept of the scripture has been used to justify oppression against women. She argues the religious hegemony of women's submission to their husbands with a principle for change in this generation and generation to come. She attests that GBV is also driven by the submission of women to men. However, nowadays women seem to have changed more than women in the past. According to Klaasen (2018:18), 'theologians seek to transcend, the present reality and seek the authenticity of humanity, beyond the distorted notion of the image of God'.

South Africa is regarded a violent, angry country in the world and 'it has dropped in the latest index, with an index score of 57, and is now ranked the fifth most dangerous country out of the 144 countries covered' (Gullup 2020). Some people argue that 'the history of violence is traced to colonialism, apartheid and post-apartheid' (Gupta & William 2010:2). However, this does not justify GBV towards women and children. The female co-researcher's paragraph notes that violence can be the result of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and if that is not dealt with it can cause violence in a man's relationship:

'I would say that violence and anger come from the issues you have not dealt with, and what you have been through in your life, for example, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and apartheid abuse. A lot of people stay with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder with them. For example, losing a job would be a trigger, having communication problems in a relationship, having a child with an illness, a lot of things trigger certain things in a person's mind, it could lead to a fight or flight situation and then you just fight physically.' (F2)

In the excerpt below, the man shares his experience as one of the leaders of the GBV community forums. Men do not find it easy to report abuse; they are reluctant to come to the police station or social support group. They find it hard to express emotional abuse or any form of abuse perpetrated by a woman because of the embedded masculinity syndrome. Men have a term that says indoda ayikhali, ikhalela ngaphakathi [Men do not cry, only sob and die inside]. The narrative below reflects that men and boys could be subjected to GBV but become silent because of the stigma of being harassed by other men and law enforcement officers:

'I can tell you what I see, the man starts being violent because when he goes to the police station he becomes a laughing stock. After all, they know that men are masculine, when he opens a case saying that his woman beats him they laugh at him. Because they grew up knowing the man is the head of the family and a man can use his masculinity in any way. If a woman is harassed by a man, she can report it easily to the police, but a man cannot report that freely.' (M3)

For instance (Sida 2015):

[ M ]en and boys could feel ashamed and teased for not being 'real' men, by not complying with social expectations on manhood and masculinity norms, like gay, trans, bisexual and/or being identified as belonging to a low-status masculinity identity. (p. 6)

Theological reflection

According to Klaasen (2018:4), 'theology is about imagination characterised by willingness and beyond, we are agents of God's creation and we must practice vulnerability'. Therefore, this article avers that women and children 'are human beings created in the image and likeness of God, imago Dei ', Genesis 1:27. Berman (2015) says:

[ O ]ne does not mean to argue that femaleness is perfect as opposed to maleness, but holds an equally shared participation in humanity and the God-image, which lead to a healthier state of God's creation. (p. 131)

Sadly, patriarchy defines 'women as inferior to men, perpetuating the oppression of women by religion and culture' (Frieslaar & Masango 2021:6). The women under some church leaders remain vulnerable and deplorable and the Bible is a tool being misused. In support of this, Magezi and Manzanga (2021) assert that:

The notion of women's inferiority by Christian men in church emanates from the belief that women were 'created inferior to men'. This view springs from and is sustained in churches through invalid interpretations of certain biblical passages. For example, one of the interpretations is that Eve was created from the man's rib and was named by Adam. (p. 1)

In light of the above, research reveals misinterpretation of the scriptures as well by some churchwomen. For example, Nason-Clark (2000) states that churchwomen could sacrifice their lives for the sake of marriage relationships:

Religious women tend to think that marriage vows are forever, that they promised God, families, as well as their partners that they would love their husbands until death, do them apart - the biblical admonition (Mat. 18:21-22) to forgive 70 times seven means a perpetual cycle of hope and humiliation, or that women's cross to bear may be abuse in the family (Luk. 14:26-27). Women often blame themselves and cling endlessly to the hope that the relationship will improve and the violence will stop. (pp. 364-365)

Violence and oppression towards women have the potential to disguise the divine creation embedded in both men and women, which is the Imago Dei . It is the responsibility of both 'women and men to transcend the violent culture prevalent in South Africa, embedded in patriarchy and hierarchy' (Klaasen 2018:4). Theologically speaking, 'whatever diminishes or denies the full humanity of women, must be presumed not to reflect the divine or an authentic relation to the divine' (Ruether 1983:19). What does practical theology allow us to understand concerning GBV and the pandemic? For example, Genesis 3:16b says, 'God said to the woman your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you'. This text is misused to justify the control of men over women. However, Bond-Nash (2002:45) describes this passage 'as the result of sin entering the world and is a description of fallen humanity, rather than a prescription of what God had intended'.

Moreover, GBV is an ancient problem, the biblical text that pulls together various dimensions of women's exploitation by men, 2 Samuel 13:19-23, 'the narrative of Tamar who was tricked and raped by her half-brother Amnon' and Judges 19:22-30, 'the narrative of the unnamed woman who was raped, abused and killed'. The aforementioned biblical passages show how women have been often subjected to gross oppression and their inability to defend themselves in a patriarchal-dominated society. Magezi and Manzanga (2019:6) propose that 'Practical Theology should engage everyday concerns, issues of GBV which entails intentional focus, on making the church, interface with non-ecclesial communities'. The church should engage the community to fight GBV against women. In this regard, practical theology is expected to respond to the needs of the Christian communities and globally. There is a notion that 'the church is certainly involved, sadly, more from the point of burial of the victims of GBV than from remedial interventions' (Banda 2020:2). Therefore, the church is challenged to change in the way of doing the ministry, with the hope of a society of peace, in which GBV will come to an end. Lastly, the church must model the leadership of Jesus. There is nowhere in the Bible where Jesus mocked or oppressed women. I concur with Borland (2017:n.p.) when he emphasises that 'Jesus demonstrated the highest regard for women, in both his life and teaching, He honoured women, taught women, and ministered to women in thoughtful ways'.

Future possibilities

In a narrative approach, nothing is ever finished and completed because the stories are being storied. In response to the challenge of GBV, interventions should target multiple social levels, including public policy and government officials. Additionally, individual men, women and families, community leaders, schools and faith-based organisations such as churches should work together in the fight against GBV. Churches are significant in communities and in social institutions, which could play a pivotal role in addressing GBV, both traditional and cultural stereotypes. The GBV should be taken seriously by South Africans as a dreadful pandemic. Civil society should contribute to building strong advocacy and awareness about the scourge of GBV. Preventative measures should be the focus of a long-term solution to reduce violence. Harmful behaviours, distorted beliefs, negative attitudes, and bad social and cultural practices must be unlearnt and corrected (Sida 2015):

[ P ]revention strategies, entail a shift from ' victims ' to ' survivors ' with a focus on women and girls, efforts to increase women's political, economic empowerment, sexual and reproductive rights and to incorporate men and boys into work. (p. 4)

The male co-researcher mentioned the following in one of his excerpts:

'There is a saying take a girl child to work, to reverse the past situation and working opportunities are for women, what about the boys? If you look at empowerment programmes, they focus on women and girls, what about the boys and men who are left out of the system? They are talking about women's empowerment to address the imbalances of the past that were there before in the 60s and 70s and those are the people who grew up without equality. Nowadays when the government equalises they do it extremely, they hire more women than men in projects.' (M4)

The study assertion is that there is no justification for GBV or the killing of women and children; everyone has a right to life. Men and women should play their roles to solve their intimate relationship problems. The boy and girl children should model proper behaviour from their parents to stop the scourge of GBV. Community structures and local community projects should assist the people, and the men's forum should be actively involved in every community in South Africa to complete the end of the GBV. As Kobo (2016:3) suggests, 'this will somehow reduce the way men view women as sexual objects and eradicate the belief by some men that women are property to be owned'. The study demonstrated the significance of qualitative and narrative research through the findings from the co-researchers which were attested to the literature. This article found through narratives that men and boys feel neglected by the democratic government system in terms of empowerment. The article argued, on the other hand, that cultural norms such as gender roles, social construct, COVID-19 impact and misinterpretation of the scriptures contribute to GBV. The issue that remains a problem for the researcher and future challenge is how the government can create a space where men and women could engage in dialogue together on issues of GBV without excusing men's violent behaviour.

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the female Clinical Psychologist from Pretoria and the man from Alexandra Gender-Based Violence Walking Support Centre for their willingness to be interviewed as part of the support and contribution in conducting this research.

Competing interests

The author declares that they have no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.

Author's contributions

W.B. is the sole author of this article.

Ethical considerations

This article followed all ethical standards for research without direct contact with human or animal subjects.

Funding information

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

Data availability

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analysed in this study.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any affiliated agency of the author.

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Received: 16 May 2022 Accepted: 16 Sept. 2022 Published: 22 Dec. 2022

1 . This article was presented at the Society for Practical Theology in Southern Africa (SPTSA) conference, hosted by the University of KwaZulu-Natal School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics from 17 to 19 February 2021. 2 . Ulwaluko , 'when a male gets to a certain age, he is permitted to undergo the rites of passage, such as ulwaluko among amaXhosa and lebollo (Moja) among Basotho' (see Ratele 2008). This circumcision initiation rite is intended to prepare boys to enter into manhood. However, the outcome is negative at times as some men claim to have authority over the women and children. They demand certain respect, tend to abuse alcohol and attend elderly meetings in the community such as imbizo or legotla, while young women of their age do not attend. Lobola is a bride price which is given by the groom through negotiations arranged by the elders and the aim is to unite the families. Unfortunately, ' lobola is one of the reasons for violence against black women since it reduces women to the property of men' (Kobo 2016:4). 3 . Xhosa is one of the 11 official languages and the second spoken language in the country. It is dominant in the southern part of South Africa in Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces. 4 . Siphefumla ngenxeba is the term that was popularised by Bakhepi on OUTsurance advert 'switch and save' in November 2019. The term means 'breathing through the wound', and is used to refer to being in a heavily uncomfortable situation. The term became more popular in May 2020 during the incident of George Perry Floyd who was apprehended and strangled by a white policeman. 5 . 'Coloured' is a legal classification as per the Apartheid Population Registration Act of 1950 . This term is still in use. Academically, the term can be used in a critical manner (like people of mixed ancestry in South Africa). In countries such as the United States of America, they are classified as black people, while in some other countries, they refer to people of mixed race. 6 . Wathinta abafazi, wathinta imbokodo uzofa meaning, 'you strike women, you strike a rock, and you will die'. This phrase comes from the famous resistance song symbolising a courage and strength expressed at Women's March of 1956 when 'South African women refused to give into increasing oppression without some form of protest' (Clark, Mafokoane & Nyathi 2019). Women marched into Union buildings against the pass laws.

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Perceptions and Experiences of Research Participants on Gender-Based Violence Community Based Survey: Implications for Ethical Guidelines

Yandisa sikweyiya.

1 Gender and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa

Rachel Jewkes

2 School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

Conceived and designed the experiments: YS RJ. Performed the experiments: YS. Analyzed the data: YS RJ. Wrote the paper: YS RJ.

To explore how survey respondents perceived their experiences and the impact of participating in a survey, and to assess adverse consequences resulting from participation.

Qualitative study involving purposefully selected participants who had participated in a household-based survey.

This qualitative study was nested within a survey that investigated the prevalence of gender-based violence perpetration and victimization with adult men and women in South Africa. 13 male- and 10 female-in-depth interviews were conducted with survey respondents.

A majority of informants, without gender-differences, perceived the survey interview as a rare opportunity to share their adverse and or personal experiences in a 'safe' space. Gender-differences were noted in reporting perceptions of risks involved with survey participation. Some women remained fearful after completing the survey, that should breach of confidentiality or full survey content disclosure occur, they may be victimized by partners as a punishment for survey participation without men's approval. A number of informants generally discussed their survey participation with others. However, among women with interpersonal violence history or currently in abusive relationships, full survey content disclosure was done with fear; the partner responses were negative, and few women reported receiving threatening remarks but none reported being assaulted. In contrast no man reported adverse reaction by others. Informants with major life adversities reported that the survey had made them to relive the experiences causing them sadness and pain at the time. No informant perceived the survey as emotionally harmful or needed professional support because of survey questions. Rather the vast majority perceived benefit from survey participation.

Whilst no informant felt answering the survey questions had caused them emotional or physical harm, some were distressed and anxious, albeit temporarily. Research protocols need to put in place safeguards where appropriate so that this group receives support and protection.

Introduction

In the past few decades, worldwide, there has been an increase in research on interpersonal violence and trauma histories [1] , [2] . With this increase, institutional review boards (IRBs) and researchers have raised ethical concerns about the studies [3] , [4] , in particular the potential negative impact (emotional reaction and distress) they may have on research participants [2] , [5] . This concern has prompted some researchers to shift their attention towards empirically studying the impact of such research on participants [3] , [4] , [6] .

At present, not much is known about how participants perceive being asked about interpersonal violence and trauma histories [7] , [8] , [9] . There has been little research on this area [1] , [5] . Thus, distress and emotional harm of participants due to their participation in research remain a concern for all involved in research [8] .

We have an obligation to both the field of research on violence against women, and in particular to the participants, to understand how being asked about their adverse experiences impact them [9] . Yet, the lack of data creates a major gap [10] . Very little is known about either adverse consequences or benefits derived by participants who have violence or trauma histories when participating in research that asks about such histories [4] , [11] .

Some authors argue that this leaves IRBs to make judgments about risks of research participation based on personal experiences, conjunctive assumptions and guesses, rather than on empirical evidence [4] , [5] , [7] , [11] , [12] . Researchers and IRBs have an important responsibility in ensuring that harm to research participants is minimized, while benefits are maximized [9] , [11] . In order to carry out this task, researchers and IRBs need to, primarily, encourage and engage with research to better understand how participants themselves perceive risks and benefits in participating in research [5] , [10] , [11] , [12] . Evidence from such studies can guide IRBs and researchers in making decisions about risk-benefit ratio of research proposals that aim to study interpersonal violence and other sensitive topics [3] , [5] , [7] , [11] , [12] .

Whilst not much research has been done in this area, recent empirical evidence suggest that research participation for interpersonal violence and trauma survivors does not overwhelmingly distress participants, rather, participants report experiencing such research as beneficial [5] , [6] , [13] . This finding is consistent with findings from other studies which report that research participants, in particular those who have reported experiencing interpersonal violence and other traumas, seem to benefit from participating in research [1] , [3] , [6] , [7] .

This, however, does mean research participants do not get upset or distressed when asked sensitive questions or about their trauma histories [2] , [12] . Yet, literature shows that a low percentage of participants report being distressed and or upset by research participation, and the negative effects, such as feeling distressed or upset, seem to be time limited and not overwhelming [2] , [11] . Several studies report around 10% [3] of participants reporting some form of distress as a result of participation in research on interpersonal violence and other traumatic histories, but a few studies have reported higher percentages. For example, Johnson and Benight [6] enrolled 55 women (aged 18–65) currently recovering from domestic violence and recruited from domestic violence (DV) shelters, DV support groups, and other centers servicing abused women. They reported that 25% of participants reported being upset by research participation. Interpreting these statistics is complex as the distress of research participation may also be accompanied by a perception of benefit. Thus evidence suggests that most participants value being asked about violence and trauma histories in research and report that they would be willing to participate in such studies in future [2] , [3] , [5] .

Purpose of the Study

This study aimed to explore how participants perceived their experiences with a community-based survey of men and women (over 18 years) on prevalence of gender-based violence victimization and perpetration in the Gauteng province of South Africa. We wanted to understand participants’ perception on how the survey impacted them, how answering the survey questions had made them feel, and to establish whether they perceived the survey as distressing or helpful. We also wanted to understand if they had experienced any adverse consequences resulting from their participation in the survey.

The interviews were conducted 4 to 12 weeks (July-September 2010) after the main survey was administered. The survey questionnaires for men and women slightly differed in particular on phrasing questions on gender-based violence experiences. The questionnaire included items on socio-demographic characteristics, dimensions of adversity or trauma in childhood (emotional neglect and abuse, physical hardship and abuse; sexual abuse). There were questions on gender relations, control by the male partner in the relationship, sexual harassment, sexual relations and about witnessing domestic violence. Men were asked about the first time they ever raped, rape in the past year, whether they had ever raped a woman with peers, and attempted rape. Men were also asked about being victims of sexual coercion by other men. Women were asked about being victims of rape, relationship with the rape perpetrator, their age when it happened, where it happened, and whether the incident was reported to police. Men and women were asked questions on emotional, physical and sexual intimate partner violence perpetration (men) and victimization (women) [see 14] .

In the year 2010 a South African Non-Governmental Organization called GenderLinks (GL) collaborating with the South African Medical Research Council and the University of the Witwatersrand undertook a community-based survey to study the prevalence of gender-based violence in the Gauteng province of South Africa. The survey collected data in face to face interviews with a fieldworker using a structured questionnaire with women and men over the age 18 in 75 randomly sampled enumeration (EA’s) areas in the province.

For the qualitative study, from the 75 EA’s, we conveniently selected two EA’s that were closest to the South African Medical Research Council offices (place of work for both authors). Thus, the qualitative research was conducted in Soshanguve Township in the Gauteng Province, South Africa using multiple methods of data collection. Specifically, the qualitative study was conducted in the Thate Block and Siyakhula Extension (pseudonyms).

The Thate Block is predominantly a low-income area with few middle class families. Siyakhula Extension is relatively a new residential area which has originally been a squatter camp. It is mainly a poor area with some households being shack dwellings built of corrugated iron. These two sections (blocks) are approximately 4–6 kilometers apart.

Prior to conducting the qualitative in-depth interviews, YS (first author) had rented a room in the Thate Block and stayed fulltime for approximately 03 months (March to May in 2010) as an overt researcher. During this period he familiarized himself with the setting (both EA’s), collected general information on the community in order to be able to describe the context fully, mingled with the people and had unstructured conversations with the community members (not survey participants), learning as well their thoughts and feelings about research and their experiences of participating in research studies.

Ethical Considerations

Ethics approval was provided by the ethics committees of the South African Medical Research Council and the University of the Witwatersrand. The purpose of the study, risks and benefits, informants’ rights, and the procedures involved in the study were explained to the informants. All informants signed an informed consent form. No incentive was given to the informants to participate in this research and we are not aware of any research adverse event having occurred during the period of data collection. In an attempt to ensure confidentiality and anonymity of the data presented in this article, names of all the informants have been changed, and the names presented in this article are all pseudonyms. We have also changed the names of the two EAs we conducted the study in. Furthermore, we are confident that the little description of the two EAs we provided above can not identify these EAs as Soshanguve Township is very large with many sections that are very similar in characteristics to the two EAs above.

Materials and Methods

The article is based on 22 in-depth interviews, 12 conducted with men and 10 with women. The GL survey, to which this qualitative study was nested, randomly selected 20 households per EA for interview. One eligible men or female was systematically selected from those who slept four nights a week or more in the household and in total 511 women and 487 men participated in the survey [14] . The GL fieldworkers managed to interview 12 men in the Thathe Block and 12 women in Siyakhula Extension. Before the commencement of survey in these two EAs, YS requested the fieldworkers to invite the survey participants for the qualitative study and all 24 participants agreed to be contacted. They were initially contacted telephonically and thereafter met face to face for interviews. 11 men were interviewed by YS and 10 females were interviewed by a female researcher. Two females and one man could not be located for interview after several attempts. One man was interviewed twice after he requested another interview as he felt he had been dishonest in the first interview. (see Table 1 for informants’ background information). Interviews with men were conducted in isiZulu and those with women were a mixture of Zulu and seTswana. All interviews used a thematic guide and we audio-recorded the interviews. The guide for qualitative in-depth interviews with men was slightly different from that with women interviews. Informants were asked how the survey had impacted them, how answering the sensitive questions had made them feel, whether the research, directly or indirectly, was harmful or helpful to them and how, and whether they experienced adverse consequences as a result of their participation in the survey. In the qualitative in-depth interviews, informants were also asked to give life histories of violence, men were asked about violence perpetration and victimization and women victimization.

Data Analysis

A grounded theory analysis was employed to analyze the data [15] , [16] , [17] . Data were analysed inductively. Initial analysis was performed by both authors separately and it included data from 23 in-depth interviews [17] . All interviews were digitally recorded. Audio-tapes were transcribed verbatim and translated to English by the first author and for the seTswana audio-tapes, we hired a seTswana speaking person to translate and transcribe the interviews. All transcripts were anonymysed and prepared for data analysis by the first author.

Initial codes generally corresponded with themes as set out in the interview guide. We went into the data and extracted relevant text and we grouped similar text under a theme that seemed to represent that particular text [17] . We then ran through the data identifying open codes. We did this by breaking the sentences into small segments identifying several codes within the same sentence [17] . At this early stage, we attempted to move up from the informants’ words and were abstract in labeling the codes [18] . We maintained consistency in labeling the codes so that it would be possible, at the end, to group similar codes together and produce categories [16] . At this stage, we came together and compared and discussed the codes until we agreed on which codes seemed to fit together to form categories [17] . We then followed the advice of Dahlgren et al. [16] and constructed concepts and the theory by finding axes between the codes and categories and thereafter identified the main category. We then explored what these data mean and interpreted them. In this last stage of the analysis, we compared the findings with the existing literature and made conclusions [16] , [17] , [19] .

We present the findings by building a comparative argument through juxtaposing narratives of male and female informants, highlighting similarities and differences in their perceptions and experiences [17] of participating in the survey.

Many informants in this study reported to have appreciated the opportunity to participate in the survey. Some mentioned that the research afforded them an opportunity to talk about issues they don’t normally talk about. For example, Mapaseka (age 64) was raped when she was a teenager and got pregnant. She reported that at her home her grandmother and mother did not want to talk about her rape experience. As such she had kept it inside her and this affected her life tremendously. The survey interview provided her a rare opportunity to talk about the rape incident and this healed her somewhat. She explained:

Because as mothers, us mothers who are aged 64 we have met with many troubles in our lives. And you know when a person come from afar and she does not know you and she asked what are the things that you have experienced. I told her things and I felt pain as I was telling her and she was listening to what I was saying. My heart was sore but I told myself I have to talk about this, I have to talk about it so that it can come out of my soul (kumele ngiyikhulume ukuze iphume la emphefumlweni wami) because it caused me so much pain.

Other informants who had traumatic or life threatening experiences like Mapaseka, they too, reported that through the survey, they had an uncommon opportunity to talk. Nonhlanhla, a widow with five children who was HIV positive and had reported a history of being in abusive intimate relationships in her adult life, mentioned that she found the survey content to be relevant to her and saw it as an unusual opportunity to talk about her HIV status something she did not do often. A male informant Kelebogile, in his early 40’s, had a similar perception; he was HIV+ and reported that the survey interview had provided him a rare opportunity to talk about his HIV status in a space he perceived as safe.

Attitudes, Perpetration, and Experiences of Gender-based Violence

The majority of women had an understanding that partner abuse comprised only physical and sexual abuse using physical force. For example, Mirriam reported that she had a boyfriend and perceived him as a good man who never gives her trouble. Yet when she was asked later in the interview “ How is your life with him? ”, she said: “ A lot of the time we fight, but not physically”. Similarly, Mathapelo maintained in the interviews she had a non-abusive marriage, yet she later reported that her husband sometimes used non-aggressive methods of coercing her into sex, such as persistent pleading, subtle threats, accusations of infidelity and emotional blackmail; even though she had told him she was tired and did not want to have sex at the time. She explained:

…no, he does not force me with his hands (to have sex). He’ll say things like, “…just once…” things like that… The thing is he’s the type of person who wants something like it’s been forever and I don’t like being rushed and I don’t like being forced into something that I don’t want…for instance he sometimes come home and he wants to have sex and when you’re tired, you’re tired - he shouldn’t force you, shout at you, accuse you of sleeping around.

Other women reported in the interviews to be in abusive relationships or marriages or had had experienced partner abuse in their lives. Mapaseka had been raped when she was 19 years old by a man she knew from her community. Margaret reported that her husband often beat her. Nonhlanhla had also been in abusive relationships including in her marriage.

Seven men had fairly gender-equitable attitudes and views. In their narratives, they expressed disagreement with beating women, did not approve of it and expressed concern that it was very common in their community. Yet, Thabo a young man in mid 20’s clearly had gender inequitable views, attitudes and practices. In his interview he mentioned beating her girlfriend and felt justified beating her as she had cheated on him.

Uhm the thing is she had made me angry you see? She had made me angry and I beat her. But it was not that kind of beating as if I’m mad, I beat her up in a good way (ngamshaya kahle nje)…Uhm just slapping her, something like that. But I would not take a stone and beat her with it. I just slap her, you see? I’m just putting discipline in her (ngifaka icontrol kuphela) (laughing)… Ooh she was cheating, yes she was cheating.

Concerns and Feelings About the Survey Process

In the interviews we asked the informants what their concerns and feelings were about the survey process; if there were any consequences, violence, distress and intimidation they experienced resulting from survey participation.

Data suggest that some women were left with fear post survey. They reported to have had fears that should their identities and information be disclosed, they may suffer violent reprisal from their partners.

In contrast men did not report this fear. Yet, they had felt that some questions were somewhat shocking to them, but not unusually invasive, and had understood why they were asked. Notwithstanding, five men reported that there were questions which had caused them conspicuous discomfort, although they had answered them. They viewed the questions as sensitive and personal. For them it was taboo to be asked about sex, condoms, HIV, intimate relationships and partner abuse. And some had feared negative ramifications that could potentially result from their disclosures. Our analysis reveals these men perceived such questions negatively because they were not used to being asked such questions.

Resulting from this discomfort, Thabo lied in the survey and reported that he had never beaten a partner whilst he had. He explained:

He asked whether “have I ever beaten a girl?” I told him “no” whilst I know that I have beaten a girl …eish I thought of many things, I thought of police, eish I really thought of many things (ngicabange izinto eziningi mfethu) my friend (laughing).

Other men reported that their discomfort was brought about by their fear of being judged or labeled negatively by the researcher because of their disclosures. For example, Kelebogile and Sipho reported discomfort in disclosing their HIV status in the survey, as such, the latter reported in our interviews to have been dishonest in answering the questions on HIV testing and status. Sipho explained:

Yes I did not tell him much, even with him I concealed a lot from him that I have AIDS; I don’t think I told him that. I did not tell him… I can’t really remember. But I think the thing that I did not tell him was that I have AIDS, no I did not tell him.

Disclosure of Research Participation

A number of informants discussed their participation in the survey or were known by others (e.g. children, boyfriends, girlfriends, mothers and husbands and wives) to have participated in the survey. However, our data suggest that disclosure was done with fear by some women. Some women reported that they did not disclose much content of the survey; they had chosen to conceal particular information. It seems this was for different reasons. One informant Thandaza who described her marriage as non-abusive said that she did not see a need to tell her husband as the interview was about her. However, Margaret who reported to be in an abusive marriage and often beaten by her husband, reported that she did not disclose some particulars about the survey because she feared her husband would beat her. She explained:

I can tell him (my husband) but there are things I’ll tell him and other things that I won’t.

Interviewer. Why are there things that you won’t tell him?

Margaret: I couldn’t because he would hit me.

Mirriam, a young unmarried woman currently in an abusive relationship, told her boyfriend about the full content of the interview and she felt threatened by the remarks he made. She posited:

I only told him that…that day when they did the interview, he asked me why they asked me if he’d ever hit me, did I want them or what, and I said don’t talk like that. He asked whether they wanted people to get kicked out of their homes or what… I felt bad when he said do I want [for a sexual/intimate relationship] those people… I felt bad because he’s not supposed to speak that way, he should have just said okay.

Nonhlanhla, a widow, who had been in abusive marriage and relationships in the past, but did not describe the present relationship as abusive, stated that she did not inform her new boyfriend that she was asked about rape because it was not important for him to know. Mathapelo and Busisiwe reported that they discussed everything they were asked in the survey with their husbands without negative reaction from them. Both women had reported that their husbands were not physically abusive.

Most men did not discuss their survey participation with anyone, yet giving reasons that differed from those of women. Young men like Thabo, Rorisang and Thato who stay only with their mothers stated that they did not feel comfortable to discuss some survey questions with their mothers. Rorisang who reported to be addicted to nyaope- a cocktail of dagga and cheap heroin- which is very popular in this setting mentioned that he did not discuss his survey experience with his friends as they undermine him and don’t take him seriously. Also, he did not have the kind of relationship with his mother that would allow him to talk about personal issues.

However, other men reported to have discussed their participation in the survey with their mothers, wives, friends, and girlfriends. These men said they had a special relationship with the people they told and trusted them, so they felt comfortable to talk about the content of the survey with them.

Men reported positive reactions from the people they told about their survey participation. For example, Kelebogile’s mother was happy that he had participated in the survey and was particularly keen to know if he had reported that he was HIV positive. She was pleased to learn he had. In contrast, Vuyile’s girlfriend was not bothered by his participation in the study, yet she was unhappy that he had reported about their private life.

Impact of Research on Participants

Mapaseka did not experience overwhelming and prolonged distress resulting from the survey questions, even though she had spoken about her rape: She explained.

what I can say is that I feel very happy. I don’t have regrets in anyway, my spirit is at ease, (ngizizwa ngikhululeke kabe, angisoli ndawo, kushukuthi umoya wami umnandi kabi), maybe with time, it will heal completely in my heart and in my spirit. Maybe it will heal completely and no longer think about it (rape incident)… It is better to speak than keeping quiet about a matter.

From this narrative, it is apparent that speaking about the rape incident caused Mapaseka pain, yet she attached value in talking and had perceived it cathartic.

Similarly, for Nonhlanhla the survey had made her to think about her husband’s death, and this caused her pain at that time. She was HIV positive and had suspected that her husband died of AIDS related illness, but he had not told her he had AIDS. She explained:

I spoke to her but I felt that pain, because it reminded me of something I had forgotten that happened a long time ago…they [questions] were not hard to answer because they are things of the past but it was hard talking about his death but otherwise the talking about being HIV positive didn’t bother me at all because I know which stage I am in.

Mathapelo mentioned that the interview caused her to think about the abuse she witnessed when she was a child, where her uncle was physically and emotionally abusing her aunt, and reflecting on this had made her to feel sad.

Similarly, some men reported that some survey questions had made them reflect on painful experiences about their lives. For example, Sipho and Kelebogile mentioned that the survey had made them to think about their health condition, that they were HIV positive, something they prefer not doing. Thabo who had reported to be physically abusive to his girlfriend reported that the questions about partner abuse had made him to reflect on his own actions of beating his partner, and had a realization that he had abused her. As well, Rorisang mentioned that the survey made him to think about his drug addiction problem and he felt sad being reminded it was harmful to his health.

Our data suggest that women like Mapaseka, Cleopatra and Nonhlanhla who had reported to have experienced relatively major adversities in their lives, [rape, death of a loved one, and HIV], the survey made them to relive those painful experiences causing them sadness and pain at the time.

In the interviews informants were asked how the survey had impacted them. Although some informants had mentioned that talking about some experiences caused them sadness and pain, they felt the pain was temporary and not overwhelming. Furthermore most informants mentioned that the interview itself provided catharsis for them in different ways. It seems informants appreciated the opportunity to speak freely about the problems they have been bottling inside; a safe environment like the one seemingly provided by the survey interview, allowed them space to do this.

For some women, the experience of participating in the survey and the information they derived from the survey, had an empowering effect on them. For example, Mathapelo reported that after the survey she tried to communicate her displeasure to her husband about him forcing her to have sex when she is unwilling.

We found the same for men. Many said the survey was somewhat educational and empowering as it made them to reflect on important aspects of their lives, in particular implications of their behaviours, something they don’t normally do.

On the Referral Support System

In the interviews we asked the informants: did thinking about the issues that were asked in the survey cause you any distress? If yes, we asked: what kind of support they felt they needed.

Three informants (two women and a man) did not recall being given a list of referral support services they could go to by the field workers. However, many women, including those who reported to have had experienced partner violence or were in abusive relationships, reported having needed support for non-violence or study related issues. For example, Thandaza had needed assistance for the arthritis she was suffering from. She also mentioned that she needed help with the financial challenges at her home and being assisted with organizing a grant as she was ill.

Mapaseka said she needed help with claiming maintenance from the man who raped and impregnated her. It was evident that whilst Mapaseka had reported to have been emotionally and psychologically affected by her rape experience, the interview itself did not cause her overwhelming distress that may have warranted professional intervention. It may be that she had healed over the years. Her narrative supports this interpretation:

yes they gave me the paper (list of local referral services) but I have not looked at it properly…there was no help I needed for the things the researcher asked me about.

Nonhlanhla, who had reported that the interview had caused her to think about the death of her husband, said she would have been happy if the researchers had offered her a job and help with her municipal debt. Mirriam, who reported being in an abusive relationship, mentioned that she did not know the kind of support she needed because of the survey questions. This is congruent with what Margaret said. She had reported to be in an abusive marriage in which her husband beats her. Yet she said she did not need support resulting from answering survey questions. Likewise, although Mathapelo had said she often felt her husband forces her to have sex with him, and herself had equated this to rape, when asked the same question she posited:

no there isn’t help I needed because of the things I was asked in the survey…I’ve been alright after the interview; because I was able to explain what happened to someone else.

Almost all men in the study said they did not need any support because of the questions they were asked in the survey. Therefore, we asked them to think hypothetically if they had been affected negatively by the survey questions, what form of support they would have needed. Almost all reported that talking to significant people in their lives was their first preference. Mobutho’s narrative is illustrative:

Well I think the main support is still to talk to family members around. I think they are the ones who can support you all the way with that problem and comfort you. They are the ones who can comfort you when experiencing that thing; that is my belief; only family members can help you.

He further said:

counseling is better, counseling is one of the cures that can heal those wounds. I support even counseling, but my first preference is to talk to family members. Then if you are not happy with their support, then you can take plan B and go for counseling. But my first preference is family members and plan B is counseling.

Rorisang was an exception here as he felt if he had been distressed he would have sought comfort from smoking nyaope as he had no one to speak to. Sipho and Kelebogile, who were both HIV positive, however felt they would have needed support related to their ill-health and financial assistance.

Our findings suggest that some women remained with fear after the completion of the survey. From these women narratives, it was apparent that they were worried about the potential physical harm that could result as retaliation, mainly from their partners, if there could be a breach of confidentiality. Our analysis shows that mostly these women had a history of partner violence or other forms of GBV. The only excerption here was Busisiwe who reported not experiencing abuse from her marriage. Despite not experiencing physical abuse in her marriage, she was worried that her husband would react violently if he discovered she discussed their “private” information in the survey.

In contrast, no man reported fearing physical retaliation from a partner. This, perhaps, is unsurprising considering the patriarchal nature of the South African setting where men mostly have control and dominance over women and often perpetrates violence against women [20] . This may explain why only female informants reported fearing possible retaliation from their partners.

Many men in this study reported to have been shocked by the type of questions they were asked in the survey. They found some survey questions too personal and sensitive (e.g. questions on sex, number of sexual partners, HIV and partner abuse), and this caused discomfort for them. Our analysis reveals that the few men who reported emotional reaction to these questions, had also reported perpetrating intimate partner violence or were HIV positive, and thus, may have been uncomfortable to talk about these issues as that either reminded them of and invited them to confront and evaluate their own actions [21] and, for the others, illnesses.

Some participants, like Thabo and Sipho, mentioned in the qualitative interviews that they did not report honestly in the survey about perpetrating partner abuse or their health status (in particular HIV) but were candid about these in the qualitative interviews. The reason for this difference may be that YS had resided in the community for three months prior to conducting the interviews with men, and a sense of trust and confidence in the interview may have had developed potentially creating space for participants to answer questions more honestly. The one-off nature of the survey may have limited the space for a rapport to be established between participants and researchers and that, for some participants, may have led to discomfort in reporting sensitive and personal information.

Our data suggests that whilst a number of informants had emotional reaction to some survey questions, the vast majority thought the survey had a positive effect on them. This is similar to a finding reported by Griffin et al. [13] that whilst participants in their study had recently suffered acute sexual and domestic abuse and were subjected to extensive psychological and physiological assessments there was a high level of interest in the study with low levels of distress to assessment procedure.

Whilst many authors have studied the perceptions of or risks of research participation in interpersonal violence or trauma survivors, their focus has mainly been on emotional reaction or psychological risks [3] , [4] , [10] , [13] , with lack of focus on risk for physical harm to participants. Women research participants have been viewed as a vulnerable group and that, often, may be exposed to, as Wasunna [22] argued, immediate or perpetual danger of abuse through their participation in research [23] , [24] , [25] , [26] .

In an effort to protect research participants, (especially women) from potential abuse, researchers often do not introduce their studies as that on GBV at community level, and only reveal the actual focus of the research to the selected women only [23] , [25] . Additionally, researchers often advise the participants to not divulge the focus of the research to others, explaining that this is done to maximize participant protection [25] . However, IRBs and others have raised concerns that this may be construed as deception, and view this safeguard as ethically questionable. Jewkes and Wagman [26] have, however, argued that in the South African setting, community gatekeepers are often men, whom themselves could be perpetrators of GBV and may hold such views that legitimate dominance and control of women by men. Therefore they argue that under these circumstances, this ‘form’ of deception on community gatekeepers is justified; both in terms of concealing the true focus of the research and in terms of concealing the identity of individual research participants.

In keeping with Jewkes and Wagman [26] , we support a view that this form of deception should be for community gatekeepers, and not the participants. The survey was broadly termed and had included many other questions that were not GBV related (e.g. income, abortion, schooling, food etc), yet in the qualitative interviews, informants generally understood the focus of the research as being on issues of gender, sexuality, women abuse, gender relations, which all fall in the realm of GBV.

Whilst some informants, may have had heeded the advice not to tell others about the focus of the survey, the vast majority reported to have discussed their research participation, with some disclosing the full content of the survey. Therefore, in the interviews, we probed informants in order to understand whether this placed them at risk of physical harm or other form of abuse by third parties.

In terms of perceived risks of disclosing research participation and content we found gender differences. All men reported no negative reaction, in particular, from their wives or girlfriends. The same reason we gave about control and dominance of men over women in this setting should explain this phenomenon. In contrast, although not for all women, our data suggest that some women perceived risk in disclosing the full content of the survey, and indeed some received negative responses from their intimate partners, that were somewhat threatening. One woman [Margaret] who reported in her interview to be in an abusive marriage, stated that she did not disclose the survey content because she feared being physically assaulted by her husband. We also think she may have also heeded the advice from the fieldworker not to disclose the survey content.

Among women who had disclosed the full content of the survey, we noted differences according to interpersonal violence histories. Women who were in abusive relationships reported negative reactions that were relatively threatening from their partners. In contrast, women who had reported no abuse in their relationships reported that their partners were not bothered by the survey content. Whilst no woman reported being physically assaulted by an intimate partner because of participating in a GBV survey, this finding suggests that some women may be put at risk of harm if the content of the GBV survey is known by violent and controlling men [22] . Jewkes and Wagman [26] argue that violent men may be offended upon knowing that his partner had discussed his violent behavior in the study, and thus react by physically assaulting her as a form of punishment.

Our findings support the WHO [27] recommendation that the actual focus of GBV survey should be concealed at community level, told only to participating women, and that women participants should be advised not to disclose the focus of GBV in the survey [see also 28]. This recommendation protects a particularly vulnerable subgroup of women i.e. those in abusive or potentially abusive relationships. Our data reveal that full disclosure of GBV focus of survey to abusive and controlling men, may trigger violence, and lead to harm for women participants. This aspect of risk to research participants is of particular importance in our understanding of risks to research participants. Our study provides important evidence on this risk; however, more research is needed, from this setting and elsewhere, in order to adequately understand the characteristics of participants who are more vulnerable to physical harm and the circumstances under which this harm could occur. This can maximize participants’ protection.

IRBs and researchers have raised concern that interpersonal violence and trauma survivors as research participants may be emotionally or psychologically harmed by being asked about their adversarial histories [2] , [11] , [13] . This concern is, however, based on anecdotal evidence, or often, assumptions and worst case scenarios of research atrocities [11] , [13] . Our study findings reveal that although there was no remarkable difference between men and women in reporting distress resulting from research participation, slightly more women reported sadness or pain when reflecting on painful experiences, than males. This finding is analogous to that reported by Kuyper et al. [11] in their study with young people in the Netherlands. They reported that women expressed more distress because of the questions asked as compared to men.

While in their study DePrince and Freyd [4] did not find evidence that cultural taboo may be the cause of upset for survivors of abuse and interpersonal violence, in the present study some men felt it was unusual to be asked some of the things in the survey, as such, they were somewhat upset by this. However, we also think some men may have been upset with the partner abuse questions because they perceived such questions as somewhat incriminating [10] , [21] , and for others, questions on HIV status [Sipho and Kelebogile] and drug abuse [Rorisang] may have made them to reflect on their actions and to think they were to blame for their current conditions.

Authors have argued that the ‘mere presence of sexual abuse history does not predict women’s negative emotional reactions to research, but that assault characteristics and post assault attributions and distress levels also play a role’ [1] . Griffin and colleagues [13] concur, they reported that while women in their study had recently suffered acute sexual and domestic abuse and were subjected to extensive psychological and psychophysiological assessments, they did not get damaging effects from this experience. Similarly, Johnson and Benight [6] found that the recent domestic violence victims tolerate trauma research fairly well. In the present study, although some informants had reported about traumas that had happened years ago, some were still in abusive relationships and others had HIV or had AIDS, yet they did not find it emotionally damaging to talk about such experiences in the survey. In support of this reasoning, Johnson and Benight [6] argue that ‘the ability to tolerate research that asks about sensitive and traumatic experiences may be related to coping self efficacy, the perceived ability to cope with recovery demands.’

Our data suggest that the emotional reaction to survey questions, to those who reported it, was temporal and not overwhelming, and thus would not be categorized as emotionally or psychologically harmful [4] . Jorm et al. [3] did a systematic review of literature investigating whether there is evidence that participation in psychiatric research causes harm. Particularly focusing on long-term effects of research participation, these authors concluded that there appears to be little evidence to show any long-term harm to participants even if research studies traumatic experiences. In the current study, not a single informant, reported effects of survey questions that suggested that the impact would have warranted intervention. Kuyper et al. [11] argue that emotional effects resulting from research participation may quickly fade away, and this may explain why our informants, even though had reported distress, also stated that they did not feel they needed any help. We argue that the distinction between sadness and pain and being psychologically damaged in the research context is important to make as the former seems not to equate the latter, as often assumed.

Our data shows that whilst a number of informants had felt discomfort with some survey questions, none regretted participating in the survey. Rather, including those who had reported distress, an overwhelming majority reported positive feelings about the survey [3] ; with a number of informants mentioning that the survey interview itself had provided catharsis for them. In Edwards et al. [1] study, women who had experienced child sexual abuse and those who experienced adult sexual abuse reported more personal benefits to research participation as compared to women without abuse histories. Similarly, although with a somewhat younger sample, Kuyper and associates [11] enrolled 889 sexually experienced young people in the Netherlands examining the effects of asking the participants about various sexual topics in a large-scale sexuality study. They found that the overwhelming majority of participants reported positive feelings and benefits from research participation [11] .

In the current study, a number of informants, in particular those who had major adversities in their lives (e.g. sexual assault, IPV, HIV), mentioned that they do not often get a safe space to talk about their traumatic experiences, and for them, the survey had provided this. As such, they found research participation cathartic as it allowed them space to relate their experiences to a person who was willing to listen and empathetic. This finding is consistent with Johnson and Benight [6] view that research participation may serve as a catharsis and or a motivation to seek help. Additionally, Campbell [29] in her book about the impact of researching rape argues that the ‘very act of research participation is something of an intervention in its own right.’ Our data provide support to this notion. In a setting like South Africa where women often do not have a “voice”, our findings show that women in this study felt acknowledged by being given a safe space to voice out their inner and commonly suppressed feelings.

In 2001 the WHO published the Ethical and Safety Recommendations for Research on Domestic Violence Against Women guidelines. Reflected in these guidelines is also a recommendation that ‘field researchers should be trained to refer women requesting assistance to available local services and sources of support. Where few resources exist, it may be necessary for the study to create short-term support mechanisms’. This recommendation provides a duty for GBV researchers, but does not clearly articulate the boundaries of such a duty thus opening it to various interpretations [22] . The dominant interpretation has been that for GBV research with women to meet the ethical requirements, it has to make a provision for referral to local services [22] , [26] . As such, studies on interpersonal violence often employ varying safeguards that include offering to provide referrals to local counseling services [9] . This has been the case even though there has been little or no empirical evidence suggesting it is a needed and useful safeguard in this field [26] .

Adhering to this recommendation, the survey had made a provision for referral to local services for all participants in the survey [14] . The setting of the survey is well resourced thus services were readily available; and therefore not necessary to create short-term mechanisms. In the present study we explored whether the participants perceived the emotional reaction they had to the survey questions warranted professional intervention, and which participants needed this. We had anticipated that those who reported major adversities in their lives would be more likely to report needing help after the survey, yet none of the informants reported having needed support because of the survey questions. This is consistent with the findings from a study in Netherlands where Kuyper et al. [11] reported that of the 889 participants, one in four reported distress (like feeling down or sad), yet only 3.5% of the sample experienced a need for help.

In the current study we found no difference according to interpersonal violence or trauma experiences or gender in reporting the need for help. However, some informants reported that had they felt they needed emotional support because of the survey questions, they would have preferred to talk to family members rather than attending professional counseling. They perceived that family members knew them better and would thus provide better support.

Much of the published research on this area is from North America and Europe and we are not aware of any from South Africa. Therefore data from the current study is important as it provides evidence for risks and benefits perceived by research participants from a South African perspective. This will aid, as well, South African IRBs and researchers in their decision making about the risk-benefit ratio of studies on interpersonal violence and trauma in South Africa and similar settings.

This qualitative study was conducted one to three months after the survey; therefore it could not capture participants’ long-term reactions to and consequences of survey participation. As discussed above, some women had remained with fear (of violent reprisals) after participating in the survey. Yet during the period between one to three months post survey, in the qualitative interviews, none reported these fears being realized. Specifically, none reported being physical harmed as a punishment for research participation.

Studies that require people to recall and report about past events, especially feelings and emotions, after some time had passed, may have a problem of recall bias. In the current study, few informants could not recall survey questions that distressed or upset them. We argue that, had the experiences been harmful with long-lasting effects, informants would still be experiencing the effects and thus able to report those in the interviews.

Whilst the participants in this qualitative study had initially been randomly selected to participate in the survey [14] , it is the nature of qualitative research that the findings are not generalisable. Their importance is that they are the lived experiences of survey participants and may thus be important to guide researchers on how to approach community-based studies involving human participants in this and similar settings elsewhere [16] .

We have presented findings showing that the majority of participants in this study, including those who had endured violence, did not feel answering the survey questions had caused them emotional or physical harm. Some had reported feeling sad and upset on reflecting on painful life experiences during the survey interview, but they felt these emotions quickly went away, and most of them perceived participating in the survey positively. However, we suggest that even in the light of evidence that some participants were temporarily distressed and had been anxious about menacing responses from their partners when they told them about survey participation, research protocols need to put in place safeguards. As such we recommend that future community-based research should adhere to the WHO guidelines and safety recommendations [27] including concealing the violence focus of the research and to continuously advise women participants not to disclose the focus of the research to third parties, in particular their partners. We suggest that this should be practice in all community-based research involving women as it is currently not well understood which men may react violently and what may specifically make them to react violently.

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank the participants who shared their time, reflections and experiences which made this analysis possible. We wish to acknowledge both Elizabeth Dartnall and Dr Mzikazi Nduna for their scholarly advice on building arguments in this paper.

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Funding: This work was supported by the baseline funds of the South African Medical Research Council. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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Research Thesis on Effects Of Gender Based Violence Among Students In Masinde Muliro University, Kakamega, Kenya

2014, EFFECTS OF GENDER BASED VIOLENCE AMONG STUDENTS N MASINDE MULIRO UNIVERSITY, KAKAMEGA, KENYA

Background: A recent global review of 50 population-based studies carried out in 36 countries indicates that between 10 and 60% of women who have ever been married or partnered have experienced at least one incident of physical violence from a current or former intimate partner (Heise.L, 2009). Kenya‟s Demographic and Health Survey in 2003 found that 44 percent of married, divorced or separated women aged 15–49 report they had been physically or sexually violated at least once by their husbands or partners. Purpose of the study: This research however not only focused on the general overview of GBV but specifically arrowed on the effects of GBV amongst campus students in Masinde Muliro University. No such research had been conducted in Masinde Muliro Univeristy and any other public university in Kenya but there was evidence in written articles of the existence of GBV victims amongst the students courtesy of reports from I Choose Life Africa –Masinde Muliro chapter. Methodology: A cross sectional quantitative explorative study design was employed which combined both quantitative and qualitative enquiries. The study was conducted in Masinde Muliro University main campus as the study site with the target population of this study being both the male and female students of Masinde Muliro University. Results: From the results, it was quiet evident that the Females were the ones who faced Gender Based violence more at 96% as opposed to the male who only had 4% of the cases. Conclusion: From the findings and analysis of these results; this research came to the conclusion that GBV is present in MMUST majorly physical abuse of the students by their partners and psychological abuse from the university staff and their colleagues. It also established that There was a correlation between substance abuse and instances of GBV hence curbing substance abuse would help curb GBV.

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Wafula J. A.

Dr. Judith A D I K I N Y I Wafula

Studies reveal that Gender-Based Violence (GBV) is increasingly becoming a crisis. This is despite the development spirit entrenched in making the world a global village, Education for All plans and Vision 2030. This paper examines the challenges faced by universities in Kenya in the fight against GBV experienced by their students. It emanates from a study that involved 662 students; 144 lecturers; five deans of students and heads of student counselling; four student leaders and vice chancellors from six universities in Kenya which revealed that universities face challenges that require concerted efforts in tackling. Universities in Kenya have been growing at a rapid pace, from one national university to university colleges and fully fledged universities at varied counties. This expansion bears challenges and the fight against GBV is not exempt. The challenges run from the family structure as evidenced by domestic quarrels, fights and even murders that render it dysfunctional. The genesis of GBV resides in the underlying norm and value systems that make it necessary and legitimate subverting prevention and response efforts [1]. Consequently, GBV is exposed as a display of socio-cultural tendencies that influence the perceptions of gender and is sustained by a culture of silence and denial [2]. Further revelations from UNFPA show that biological factors have no bearing in the intense differences in the behaviours of men and women indicating that the differences are based on the socialization process. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates show that at least one in every three women experience GBV in their lifetime. Additionally, it was found that male survivors experience similar physical, social and psychological violations only that they are less likely to seek medical help due to stigma and prejudice regarding male sexuality or masculinity [3]. Therefore, the paper addresses the challenges and provides recommendations in dealing with the vice. Devolved governments are in a very strategic position of involvement in curbing the vice.

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MICHAEL AVWERHOTA

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Ikeola Adeoye

In Nigeria, there is paucity of information on the IPV burden and experience among young women in courtship and dating relationships. This study assesses the prevalence and correlates of IPV in female undergraduate and postgraduate students in a tertiary institution. The study was a cross-sectional survey. A four-stage sampling technique was used to select 1,100 undergraduate and 255 postgraduate female students from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Data was collected using a 43-item self-administered structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and multivariate analyses were carried out at 0.05 level of significance. The life-time prevalence of IPV was 42.3% (postgraduate: 34.5%, undergraduate: 44.1%; P < 0.05). Lifetime experience of psychological, physical and sexual IPV were 41.8%, 7.9% and 6.6% respectively. Recent experience (within the previous 12 months) of violence was also more frequently reported by respondents who had a previous history of physical (62.5%) (OR =...

Melak Mengistab Gebresilassie

Gender based violence is one of the most frequent type of human rights violation against girls and women. Having this background, the major objectives of this research was investigating the types, cause and consequences of this gender based violence against female students in Bahir Dar University. A qualitative study has been used predominantly to have a deep in-sight about the experiences of female students with regard to gender based violence (GBV). A case study design has been used, whereby the researcher investigates the respondents’ perspectives on their experience of GBV. A focus group discussion has also been employed to give depth to the study through analyzing groups’ consensus. Furthermore, in-depth interviews with key informants have been conducted to gather data on the prevailing norms and practices of the University in relation to GBV. Finally, beside the above major techniques, questionnaires have been distributed to female and male students to supplement the qualitative data with quantitative results. The out come of the research confirmed that, different sorts of GBV are committed against female students in Bahir Dar University. Sexual harassment is the most frequent form of sexual violence perpetrated against female students. In addition, attempted rape and rape too were perpetrated against female students mainly outside of the University. Psychological and emotional violence are also inflicted against female students through insult, humiliation and embarrassment. Economic violence, denial of liberty and discrimination in the form of giving priority to male students, are the other types of GBV observed in Bahir Dar University. Female students are also victims of physical violence through slap, battering and kicking. The causes for such types of violence were identified as legal and structural constraints. The legal challenges associated with the University which failed to have a specific policy on the rights of girls and its failure in incorporating the rights of girls within the existing senate legislation. Furthermore, absence of any nationwide law that protects girls against campus based GBV is another challenge. The structural constraints include the discriminatory culture, and poverty which are related to the society. The physical environment, alcoholism and drugs abuses are the other challenges related to the University and the students, respectively. GBV has various consequences on female students’ physical, emotional and psychological health and educational achievements. The study showed that GBV is one the major cause for female students’ lower academic achievements. Finally, the study points out some recommendations.

Busola Odubela Ajibola

Gender-based violence (GBV) is globally recognized as a public health issue. The specific focus of this research is violence against women (VAW), as statistics continue to show that women are more likely to fall victims of violence by virtue of their gender. This study investigates the prevalence, pattern and causal factors for violence against female undergraduates in Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, Nigeria. In addition, the study examines the causes and effects of this malaise on victims. Possible ways of reducing occurrence of VAW against female undergraduates are also proffered. The study is cross-sectional, analytical and descriptive, in nature. It made use of secondary data source like; academic papers, newspaper publications, online publications ands so on. Data were collected with a pilot tested, semi-structured questionnaire; self-administered by the respondents. Data were analyzed with the Epi. Info software. Respondents were selected using a 3-level multistage sampling technique. Results and conclusion are based on valid responses only.

Science Journal of Public Health

kassahun Gebeyehu

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences

Zarina Mohd Zain

https://www.ijhsr.org/IJHSR_Vol.7_Issue.11_Nov2017/IJHSR_Abstract.031.html

International Journal of Health Sciences and Research (IJHSR)

Background: Studies have shown that violence against women which is manifested in multiple forms is increasingly seen as a major public health concern. The findings from a study conducted in Kenya indicated that 46% of ever-married women have experienced any type of intimate partner violence. This is a problem affecting people from all walks of life, in Kenya, information on most aspects of gender based violence is inadequate and there is great need for research on all aspects gender based violence and therefore this research seeks to fill this gap by assessing the predisposing factors attending the Nairobi women's hospital, in Nairobi Kenya. Objective: Assessing the predisposing factors associated with Gender-based violence amongst married women attending Nairobi Women's Hospital. Methodology: The study was a hospital based cross-sectional study conducted at gender violence and recovery Centre of Nairobi Women's Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, where 325 gender based violence victims visiting the facility were recruited to participate in the study. Data was collected using questionnaires and focus group discussions and the predisposing factors to be analyzed were age, marital status, economic status and education level. The data from the questionnaire forms were coded and entered in the Ms-Access, which was then analyzed using STATA version 13and the association was tested using chi-square at 5%confidence level. Data collected from Focus Group Discussions was sorted manually based on themes developed from issues arising from responses, transcribed translated and coded. Results: Age (P<0.0001), marital status (p=0.015), whether the victim was alone during the incidence (P<0.0001), drinking habit of the victim (P=0.011), and whether perpetrator was drunk during the incidence (P=0.026) individually showed statistically significant association with the forms of violence experienced while highest level of education (P=0.575) and occupation (P=0.101) individually showed no statistical association with the forms of violence. Conclusion: Women experience gender-based violence in a number of contexts and roles, and many have accepted their situation and therefore prevention strategies should be implemented to address the spectrum of GBV women victims. Recommendation: Active campaigns to sensitize the community against gender based violence

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Background: Sexual harassment has posed a tremendous challenge to African women both in the workplace and educational setting, and this problem has impacted women's self-esteem as well as their academic, social, and psychological wellbeing. One in five college women are victims of acquaintance rape during their academic career and less than 5% of college women who are victims of sexual assault report their victimization. However, there is limited data on sexual violence in the context of higher education in Ethiopia particularly in the study setting. This study, therefore, determined the prevalence and its associated factors among female students of Hawassa University in Ethiopia. Methods: Institution-based cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted from April to June 2013. A multistage sampling technique was used. A total of 336 female students registered as 2nd year and above were involved in the study. Data was collected using anonymous self-administered structured questionnaire. Results: A total of 336 female students took part in the study. Majority of the study participants (N = 298; 88.7%) were in the age range of 20-34 years. The mean age and standard deviation of the respondents were 21.3 ± 1.7 years. Regarding the marital status of the respondents, 307 (91.4%) of them were single. We found that, while 14.3% reported having experienced completed rape since being admitted to the university, 3% had the experience in the past years. Conclusions: This study showed a high prevalence of sexual violence against female students of Hawassa University in Ethiopia. Interventions are, therefore, required by university authorities and other stakeholders, to create a safe learning environment for female students through primary prevention of sexual violence and rehabilitation programs for the victims.

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