South Africa has not escaped the rising prevalence and severe impact of HIV/AIDS in relation women. From an economic and social vantage point, the HIV/AIDS epidemic hits women the hardest, with underprivileged black women the most susceptible to the virus. The theoretical framework of this research focuses on the intersection between HIV/AIDS, gender inequality and gender violence, and more specifically, on certain cultural practices and customs that contribute towards and exacerbate women’s subordination and inequality, which in turn, increase women’s exposure to become infected with HIV. Relevant to this focus is inevitably an investigation of perceived threats to specific fundamental human rights as a result of some entrenched practices that continue to reinforce women’s subordinate position in society, aggravated by the high incidence of gender violence. / Constitutional, International & Indigenous Law / LL.M.

Thesis (LLM)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / Includes bibliography / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In South Africa gender-based violence (hereafter “GBV”) has reached extreme levels. This violent manifestation of gender inequality is compounded by the fact that women are disproportionately affected by poverty, the HIV/AIDS epidemic and inadequate health care services. This is in spite of South Africa’s progressive constitutional and legislative framework which appears highly conducive to combating gender inequality and GBV. For example, the Constitution protects the right to equality (section 9), human dignity (section 10), life (section 11), freedom and security of the person (section 12) and the right to have access to health care services, including reproductive health (section 27(1)(a)). Extensive legislation has also been enacted for the protection of women. For example, the preamble to the Domestic Violence Act 116 of 1998 (hereafter “DVA”) recognises domestic violence as a serious social evil. While the DVA is notably silent as to the role of the health care sector, the DVA is progressive in that it contains a broad definition of domestic violence, and recognises a wide range of relationships. The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act 32 of 2007 also seeks to afford complainants of sexual offences “the maximum and least traumatising protection that the law can provide”. In addition to this, South Africa has international law obligations to address GBV and gender inequality. For example, under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979), States are obliged to address private acts of violence and to remove discrimination against women in all fields, including health. However, despite this progressive framework of rights, some interpretations of these integral rights have been unduly formalistic, in addition to being disengaged from the lived reality of many women. There is also a substantial gap between policy and practice, with the implementation of existing legislation a continuing problem. It is therefore imperative that we analyse the right to have access to health care services through a gender lens so as to transcend a purely legalistic perspective and to interrogate gendered social processes and power relations. This thesis analyses how existing law and policy can be transformed so as to be more responsive to these lived realities and needs of survivors of GBV. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geslagsgebaseerde geweld (hierna ‘GGG’) in Suid-Afrika het uiterste vlakke bereik. Hierdie gewelddadige manifestasie van geslagsongelykheid word vererger deur die feit dat vroue buite verhouding erg deur armoede, die MIV/vigs-epidemie en ontoereikende gesondheidsorgdienste geraak word. Dit is ondanks Suid-Afrika se vooruitstrewende grondwetlike en wetsraamwerk wat op die oog af hoogs bevorderlik vir die bestryding van geslagsongelykheid en GGG voorkom. Die Grondwet verskans, byvoorbeeld, die reg op gelykheid (artikel 9), menswaardigheid (artikel 10), lewe (artikel 11), vryheid en sekerheid van die persoon (artikel 12) en toegang tot gesondheidsorgdienste, met inbegrip van reproduktiewe gesondheidsorg (artikel 27(1)(a)). Omvattende wetgewing oor vrouebeskerming is ook reeds uitgevaardig. Die aanhef tot die Wet op Gesinsgeweld 116 van 1998 (hierna die ‘WGG’) identifiseer, byvoorbeeld, huishoudelike geweld as ’n ernstige maatskaplike euwel. Hoewel die WGG swyg oor die rol van die gesondheidsorgsektor, is dit nietemin vooruitstrewend aangesien dit ’n uitgebreide omskrywing van huishoudelike geweld bevat en ’n wye verskeidenheid verhoudings erken. Die Wysigingswet op die Strafreg (Seksuele Misdrywe en Verwante Aangeleenthede) 32 van 2007 is ook daarop afgestem om klaagsters van seksuele oortredings “die omvattendste en mins traumatiese beskerming te gee wat die wet kan bied”. Daarbenewens verkeer Suid-Afrika onder internasionale regsverpligtinge om GGG en geslagsongelykheid aan te spreek. Ingevolge die Konvensie vir die Uitwissing van Alle Vorme van Diskriminasie teen Vroue (1979), byvoorbeeld, is state verplig om privaat geweldsdade teen te staan en diskriminasie teen vroue op alle gebiede te verwyder, insluitend gesondheid. Nietemin, benewens hierdie vooruitstrewende menseregteraamwerk is sommige interpretasies van hierdie onafskeidbare regte nie net oormatig formalisties nie, maar ook verwyderd van die daaglikse realiteit van baie vroue. Daar is ook ʼn wesenlike gaping tussen beleidsmaatreëls en die praktyk, terwyl die uitvoering van bestaande wetgewing ʼn voortgesette probleem verteenwoordig. Dit is dus gebiedend om die reg op toegang tot gesondheidsorgdienste deur ʼn geslagslens te analiseer om sodoende ʼn bloot regsgedrewe perspektief te bo te gaan en om maatskaplike prosesse en magsverhoudinge in oënskou te neem. Hierdie tesis analiseer hoe bestaande wetsraamwerke en beleidsmaatreëls getransformeer kan word om beter te reageer op die realiteite en behoeftes van oorlewendes van GGG. / Stellenbosch University Hope Project / Bradlow Foundation

Thesis (M Social Work (Social Work))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / An exploratory and descriptive research design was selected together with a combination of both a quantitative and qualitative research approach to obtain the necessary information, insight and knowledge regarding the social welfare services offered to female victims of domestic violence in shelters. The motivation for this investigation stemmed from the lack of information on social welfare services offered to these female victims. The researcher became aware of this lack of information due to the fact that only limited studies and investigations had been done into the social welfare services offered to female victims of domestic violence within South Africa. The goal of this study is therefore to gain a better understanding of the social welfare services offered to female victims of domestic violence in shelters in order to provide recommendations to social service practitioners for the improvement of social welfare services in such circumstances. The literature study firstly focused on the theories, conceptualisation and dimensions of domestic violence in order to gain an understanding and knowledge base of the theories that describe domestic violence, concepts that provide an understanding of the phenomenon of domestic violence as well the dimensions of domestic violence. Furthermore, the literature study focuses on the policies, legislations and the government’s commitment to address domestic violence in South Africa. The primary focus of the literature study was to investigate the social welfare services that are offered to female victims of domestic violence in shelters. The researcher contacted the Department of Social Development of the Western Cape in order to identify the shelter organisations that offer social welfare services to female victims of domestic violence and finally a purposive sampling was done of ten shelters in the Western Cape Metropole area which offer social welfare services to female victims of domestic violence. A qualitative and quantitative investigation was performed by means of conducting semi-structured interviews with the aid of an interview guide. The results of the investigation mainly confirmed the findings of the literature study that domestic violence is an inherent part of the life in South Africa, also that domestic violence has a variety of causes and consequences and that social welfare services offered to female victims of domestic violence are an important part of the process of empowerment in shelters. The recommendations were aimed at services in shelters and professional persons involved in the rehabilitation and empowerment of abused women during their accommodation in the shelters. The recommendations also included further research to explore the impact of these social welfare services on female residents, and to address the areas where social welfare services fall short in order to provide insight into the development of other social welfare services that are needed by female residents when entering a shelter.

Researchers have provided evidence that living in intimate partner violence while pregnant negatively impacts the health of both the women and their unborn children. The purpose of this narrative study was twofold, first to gain understanding of the meaning of health as described by pregnant women who lived in intimate partner violence, and second to gain strategies for health care professionals. Six purposefully selected women participated in two interviews. The data were arranged under five themes: loss of body health, loss of mind health, loss of spirit health, coping with loss of body, mind and spirit health, and advice for health care professionals. The results revealed that these women’s health was negatively affected by living in intimate partner violence while pregnant. Universal screening, coalition building, further research, changes in health care policies, and changes in nursing education and practice are needed to properly address this serious health issue. / xi, 153 leaves ; 29 cm

South Africa has not escaped the rising prevalence and severe impact of HIV/AIDS in relation women. From an economic and social vantage point, the HIV/AIDS epidemic hits women the hardest, with underprivileged black women the most susceptible to the virus. The theoretical framework of this research focuses on the intersection between HIV/AIDS, gender inequality and gender violence, and more specifically, on certain cultural practices and customs that contribute towards and exacerbate women’s subordination and inequality, which in turn, increase women’s exposure to become infected with HIV. Relevant to this focus is inevitably an investigation of perceived threats to specific fundamental human rights as a result of some entrenched practices that continue to reinforce women’s subordinate position in society, aggravated by the high incidence of gender violence. / Constitutional, International and Indigenous Law / LL.M.

O estudo da violência doméstica é um tema de suma importância que vem despertando interesse por parte de pesquisadores das ciências humanas e sociais. Com o intuito de contribuir para o aprofundamento desta temática, esta pesquisa teve como objetivo compreender a experiência de mulheres em situação de violência doméstica e os modos como estas mulheres subjetivam esta violência. Trata-se de um trabalho que pretendeu colocar em pauta a necessidade de uma organização de serviços voltados a esta população, assentados na atenção global, considerando as diferentes demandas pertinentes à saúde, proteção social e jurídica. A importância dada ao problema é fruto da crescente conscientização acerca das desigualdades de gênero, do paulatino reconhecimento dos direitos da mulher e das consistentes evidências da grande magnitude do fenômeno em escala mundial. As participantes desta pesquisa foram mulheres que estão em situação de violência doméstica residentes na cidade do Recife/PE e em Afogados da Ingazeira/PE Sertão do Pajeú que procuram os serviços do Grupo Mulher Maravilha organização não-governamental. O instrumento utilizado para nos aproximarmos do fenômeno foram entrevistas semidirigidas, realizadas individualmente. Os dados coletados foram agrupados em eixos temáticos para, a partir daí, compreendê-los segundo seus núcleos de sentido. Os dados analisados mostram a dificuldade que as mulheres encontram em romperem com a violência sofrida, deixando expor o seu aprisionamento por diferentes motivos: o medo de o companheiro matá-la; o receio de que os filhos venham sofrer com a possibilidade de verem o pai preso; o valor creditado ao casamento e a família; sentem pena do companheiro por ser um alcoolista ou por está desempregado; e por não encontrarem ajuda efetiva dos órgãos de defesa da mulher. Vale ressaltar que esses dados corroboram que as raízes da violência doméstica contra a mulher estão fundadas em uma sociedade que se constituiu baseada em um sistema patriarcal, fruto da desigualdade entre homens e mulheres de diferentes raças, etnias, classe social e cultural. Portanto, observa-se a violência como uma questão complexa, bem como as soluções políticas para a sua prevenção e erradicação, requerendo uma compreensão ampla do problema. Por outro lado, a pesquisa mostra a importância da psicologia clínica no processo de ruptura da violência doméstica, contribuindo para um resgate da auto-estima e da autonomia das mulheres, na tentativa de elas romperem o ciclo da violência e os pactos conjugais e domésticos a que estão submetidas / The study of domestic violence is an important theme that has been arousing interest in social and human sciences researchers. In order to contribute to a better knowledge of this subject, this research had as objective to comprehend the experience of women in domestic violence situation and the ways that these women subject this violence. It is a work that intended to put on the agenda the need of an organization with systematic services of global attention, considering the different requests regarding health, social and legal protection. The importance given to the problem is due to the increasing awareness of gender hierarchy and inequality, the recognition of womens rights and the consistent evidences of the phenomenons great magnitude at a world level. The participants were women resident in the cities of Recife and Afogados da Ingazeira/PE Sertão do Pajeú who usually seeks the services of Grupo Mulher Maravilha non-governmental organization. The instrument used to approach this phenomenon was semi-structured interviews which were performed individually. Collected data were grouped in thematic axis according to their nucleus of meanings for a better comprehension. The analyzed data shows the difficulty that women find in breaking up with the suffered violence by letting themselves to expose their situation through different reasons: the fear of their partner kills them and the possibility of their children see their father arrested; the credit given to the matrimony and family concept; the fact of they feel sorry for the partner to be an alcoholic or for he is unemployed ; and because they cannot find effective help from the organizations of womans defense. It is valuable to emphasize that this data corroborates with the idea that the roots of domestic violence against women are founded in a society that is based in a patriarchal system, fruit from the disparity between men and women of different races and social and cultural positions. Therefore, violence is observed as a complex matter as well as the politic solutions for its prevention and eradication and so requiring a wide comprehension of the problem. In the other hand, this research shows the importance of the clinic psychology in the break process of domestic violence contributing for a rescue of womens self-esteem and autonomy in their attempt to interrupt the violence cycle and the matrimonial and domestic pacts which to they are submitted

O estudo em discussão tem como objetivo conhecer o processo de implementação da Casa da Mulher Brasileira, na Cidade de Curitiba, enquanto nova política pública para acolhimento e atendimento mulheres vítimas de violência, com assistência integral e humanizada facilitando o acesso a serviços especializados e garantindo condições de enfrentamento da violência, de empoderamento e autonomia econômica. Para subsidiar a discussão da construção de políticas públicas para enfrentamento da violência contra as mulheres são discutidos os conceitos gênero, violência, violência contra as mulheres, direitos humanos, políticas públicas e políticas públicas para as mulheres e apresentados dados alarmantes sobre o fenômeno da violência contra as mulheres no Brasil, onde uma em cada três mulheres já sofreu violência física ou sexual. O país também aparece na 5ª posição em relação ao número de homicídio de mulheres, numa lista de 83 países, em relação ao número de homicídios de mulheres. Para este estudo realizou-se pesquisa qualitativa, por meio de entrevistas semi-estruturadas com cinco profissionais, mulheres, que atuaram na implementação da Casa da Mulher Brasileira em Curitiba, por meio de entrevistas com objetivo de apresentar como resultado uma contextualização deste processo. A Casa da Mulher Brasileira é uma ação definida no Artigo 3º do Programa Mulher: Viver Sem Violência. O Programa foi instituído pelo Decreto nº 8.086 em 30 de agosto de 2013 com o objetivo de integrar e ampliar os serviços públicos existentes voltados às mulheres em situação de violência, mediante a articulação dos atendimentos especializados no âmbito da saúde, da justiça, da rede socioassistencial e da promoção da autonomia financeira. Ao concretizar-se em realidade responde ao disposto na Lei Maria da Penha, que determina que a política pública para coibir a violência doméstica e familiar contra a mulher será realizada por um conjunto de ações articuladas entre União, dos Estados, do Distrito Federal e dos Municípios. / The study under discussion refers to the implementation process of the Casa da Mulher Brasileira, in the City of Curitiba, which is a new public policy for welcoming and assisting women victims of violence, with a humanized and integral assistance, helping the access to specialized services and ensuring conditions for standing up to violence, empowerment and economic autonomy. In order to subsidize the discussion of the construction of public policies to face violence against women, it discusses concepts of gender, violence, violence against women, human rights, public policies and public policies for women. It also shows alarming data on the phenomenon of violence against women in Brazil, where 1 in 3 women have already suffered physical or sexual violence. The country also ranks fifth in relation to the number of women homicides in a list of 83 countries in relation to the number of homicides of women. The field research executed with five professionals, women, who worked on the implementation of the Casa da Mulher Brasileira in Curitiba, through qualitative interviews, aiming to present as a result a contextualization of this process. The Casa da Mulher Brasileira is an action defined in Article 3 of the Women Program: Living without Violence. Decree 8.086 established the Program on August 30, 2013, with the goal of integrating and expanding existing public services aimed at women in situations of violence, through the articulation of specialized services in the health, justice, social assistance and the promotion of financial autonomy. When it comes to reality, it responds to the provisions of the Maria da Penha Law, which establishes that the public policy to curb domestic and family violence against women be carried out by a set of actions articulated between the Union, the States, the Federal District and the Counties.

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the Degree of Master of Technology in Public Administration- Peace Studies, Durban University of Technology, 2017. / South Africa has many issues around domestic violence resulting from culture, patriarchy and historical prejudices. It has been suggested that intimate partner violence is mainly perpetrated by men against women, and is an effort by men in a patriarchal society to dominate women. The purpose of this research is to build the capacity of young Zulu men to be non-violent intimate partners. The study utilised the Social Learning Theory and Feminist Theory. The study adopts an Action Research design, the goal of which is to solve concrete community problems by engaging community participants in the inquiry process. A mixed research methodology will be adopted for the study and will involve the use of both qualitative and quantitative data. 50 questionnaires will be administered to 50 Zulu young men between the ages of 18-35 in the Oakford Verulam area, while qualitative data will be obtained through focus group discussions, divided into three groups consisting of nonviolent, previously violent and currently violent men. The findings of this research suggest that there are several factors attributed to cause violence in an intimate relationship and these factors are deeply rooted in the background and upbringing of these men. The findings also suggest that in order to curb violence in the communities one would have to first address the underlying issues and for men to unlearn certain behaviours and traits they learnt during childhood. / M

Intimate partner violence is endemic in the United States. According to the American Medical Association (1992), one-fifth to one-third of women will sustain violence from a partner or ex-partner in their lifetime. The relevant literature was organized by ICD-9-CM categories. This study examined the health consequences of partner abuse in a sample of community women using a sample consisting of 564 women in three ethnic groups. Because prior research has failed to account for variations by type of abuse on health consequences, this study assessed psychological abuse, violence and sexual aggression by women's partners. To determine whether or not different types of abuse had an effect on women's health, hierarchical regression analyses were conducted. The regression equations were calculated for women within each ethnic group to facilitate identification of similarities and differences and to control for ethnic differences in risk for specific diseases. The results were consistent with past research on health consequences of abuse and extended the prior literature by showing that psychological abuse had a pervasive effect on health conditions, distress and use of health care resources. Additionally, ethnic differences emerged. As expected, ethnicity appeared to function as a moderator. Clinical implications and recommendations are made for future research, suggesting the development of a new assessment tool for partner abuse screening.

The purpose of the study was to develop a better understanding of the barriers faced by Latinas when confronted with domestic violence.