Behind Closed Doors: Listening to the Voices of Women enduring Battering

Abstract

Statistics reveal that there are large numbers of women, including those in marital unions or partnerships, who are enduring violence and abuse. Most of this abuse is at the hands of intimate partners and loved ones. The present study sought to develop insight into the reasons why Vha-Venda women in Thohoyandou community of Limpopo Province stay in abusive relationships. A qualitative study was conducted. Twenty participants were accidentally selected for the study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and were narrative analysis was performed. Several reasons compelled women to stay in abusive relationships. The major reasons include economic security, sake of children, fear of reprisal by society, fear of further abuse and the normalisation of abuse by the society. Society and man in particular need education on the rights of women and the consequences of wife battering. There is need for programmes for identifying and empowering women in abusive relationships to confront the challenge.