“I’ll show you how a real woman should act”: One woman’s experience of homophobic violence and intimidation in post-apartheid South Africa

Abstract

South Africa experiences alarming levels of intimate partner violence and femicide, as well as increasing reports of homophobic violence against women. This article focuses on a qualitative study, which explored how women’s lives and identities are transformed by living in this culture of violence against women. Open-ended interviews were conducted with 27 undergraduate women students, who attended a South African University. The article draws on the interviews of one of these women, a Black African lesbian woman, Phelisa. Discourse analysis was used to analyse her interview texts. Phelisa’s story is presented as a single-case study example of homophobic violence and intimidation in a South African township. The case study highlights the various discourses associated with this violence, specifically the ‘homosexuality is un-African discourse’ and the ‘discourse of feminine transgression’.

Keywords: case study, gender; homophobic violence, violence against women, South Africa, Black African women, homosexuality