Background
Theories on causes and consequences of IPV against women
Methods
Design
Setting
Selection of informants
Group number | Sex | Category | Number | Age (years) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Females | Non-professionals | 12 | 15-40 |
2 | Males | Non-professionals | 12 | 30-48 |
3 | Females | Professional and non-professionals | 12 | 30-52 |
4 | Females | Professionals | 10 | 30-46 |
5 | Males | Professionals | 11 | 27-56 |
6 | Females and males | Religious | 10 | 35-52 |
7 | Males | Professionals and non-professionals | 8 | 32-41 |
Data collection
Research tools
Analytical procedures
Ethical considerations
Trustworthiness
Results
'Justified as part of male prestige'
Men having different blood
D6: "We men are proud. We do not want to be given instructions by women but want to instruct. That is the way we were brought up. We have different blood; unlike women who use words, we cannot wait to beat." {FGD 5}D1: "Men cannot just have a mere talk when they are annoyed, as head of the family, a slap or two is okay to your wife, but not bloodshed." {FGD 5}
D4: "We annoy our husbands with our behaviours and sometimes we deserve to be beaten. I hear some women from certain tribes provoke men to beat them feeling that beating is part of love...." {FGD 3}
Influenced by the power of money
D6: "A man who does not have good money is not loved, while a rich husband may beat his wife at night and in the morning pledge her with offerings and presents. Many women continue to stay with abuse in this way." {FGD 4}
D5: "I used to live better when I had a job. The problems started when I left the job. I suffered from abusive words and sometimes slaps from the woman I used to love. I tried to give her hope for our future but she was not ready to listen because I had no money." {FGD 2}D2: "As for me, despite her abuse I tried to convince her to come back after she left me with the children, but she refused because I had no money. I suffer joblessness and abuse at the same time. I hear she lives with a shopkeeper in the next street." {FGD 2}
'Viewed as discreditable and unfair'
D3: "I have witnessed several men who spend their money on other women and leave their families to suffer. Most times they don't even eat at home. If a woman questions anything, she is given "presents" of slaps and verbal abuse. These women are always miserable and angry." {FGD 3}
D2: "One of my neighbours abuses his wife after being late so that the wife does not get a chance to question him; instead she concentrates on the pain and fear. This woman is always miserable." {FGD 6}
A shame to admit
D6: "My friends used to laugh at me; some suspected that I was living in an unhappy marriage. Actually I did not enjoy sex and hated men. I felt embarrassed and it was shameful to pass in front of others on the streets. I looked ugly and had rough skin in those days." {FGD 1}D7: "I cried several times, alone in my bed room...until we divorced. It was not easy to inform my father-in-law or anybody; the situation was too shameful." {FGD 1}
A threat to human dignity
D6: "But even if you are beaten once in your life you feel pain, and it is not easy to forget. My friends used to laugh at me. Other colleagues and distant family members were abusing me by saying that I was beaten because I was poor at making love. I had frequent disagreements with my husband with several injuries, sad moments and sleepless nights." {FGD 1}
D5:"I invested in a shop and gave the responsibilities to my wife. When the business grew she got a boyfriend from the place she collects wholesale products and started to abuse me. Because of my children, I am living with my wife but with precautions. I sleep in a separate room. Suffer silently." {FGD 2}
'Results in emotional entrapment'
Self blame
D5: "It is difficult to advise somebody who is living with violence to move out. She would always complain and blame herself because she loves the man. I wonder why a person who has problems with violence stays. Maybe she stays for the sake of the children but also for the shame, or for fear of living alone." {FGD 4}
Shifting tolerance
D2:"He threw nasty words and I packed and stayed with my friends for three days. He asked my father for help to get me back but I said that I suffered from seeing my mother being slapped and that was enough. But on the third day I felt that I had to go back to the perpetrator, I mean my husband." {FGD 4}
'Fed up with passivity'
A wish for change
D2: "We need to change, show that women don't accept violence any longer." {FGD 4}D6: "The time to be men's instruments should stop. They need us just as we need them. They continue their bad habits because we are quiet. This is not good enough." {FGD 1}
D6: "After three years of suffering I decided to end the silence and shared the dangers I was living in with my brother who assisted in divorce. It was not possible to make it without his support." {FGD 4}
Gender norms in transition
D1:"IPV should stop; you know the women we beat are other people's sisters and mothers." {FGD 5}
D4: "I think the solution to intimate partner violence problems should come from above. I mean they should be initiated by the cabinet as a higher level government organ. We may fail to solve matters individually. We witness cases of violence and they are reported in the newspaper but we are not aware of what goes on thereafter. I think we should also involve health care...." {FGD 5}
D6: "People fight at night with the doors closed. Who will open the door for you? Can you break the door of somebody's house? It is an offense. Maybe what we need are strong laws which can strictly be followed." {FGD 7}.