“She is trying to control me”: African men’s lived experiences of intimate partner violence in Johannesburg

Abstract

As studies on women’s experiences of gender-based violence (GBV) flourish across the globe, this article contributes to understandings of intimate partner violence (IPV) that characterises African men’s heterosexual relationships. Drawing on evidence from in-depth individual interviews with men in Johannesburg, the study reveals that while the most obvious form of IPV experienced in their relationships is physical aggression from their female partners, they also face frequent instances of emotional and economic abuse. However, sexual coercion as a form of abuse was generally not prominent, though instances were reported. A minority of the men had been both perpetrators and victims of violence in their relationships. The study adds to a growing body of work on the capacity of women to inflict diverse forms of violence against their male partners and also revealed a xenophobic pattern of IPV associated with some of the migrant African men.