Domestic Violence against Africa women in late 1970s and early 1980s

Domestic violence is characterized as a pattern of actions involving the use of violence or other forms of harassment by one individual against another, particularly in a family setting such as marriage or cohabitation. Intimate partner abuse occurs when those acts are committed by a partner or spouse in an intimate relationship, and it may occur in either a same-sex or heterosexual relationship. Domestic abuse may also include violence against the elderly, teenagers, or parents, and it is typically committed in self-defense. The study will primarily focus on causes and forms domestic among African women between 1970s and early 1980s and their effects on the victims and the society.

In the early 1970s, domestic violence among African women was mostly unrecognized and in most occasions, was ignored in the legal, medical and social spheres. During this period, family disputes were widely dismissed. The little study that acted as evidence for domestic violence did not exist. In the early 1980s family violence were rare, and when they occur, they were mainly as a result of mental illness or psychological disorders. Also during this season, any married in Africa woman was supposed to be free from any bodily stripes or corrections from her husband. People that were involved in wife batters could be punished by beautiful or sometimes through whipping. In other occasions, such people engaged in wife batters could also be subjected to public shaming in churches, or sometimes they get expelled from the congregation. Incidences of domestic violence began to be experienced in late 1970 among African women in different forms such as physical aggression, sexual abuses, intimidation, controlling or domineering by men or through passive/ convert abuse such as neglects and finally through subjecting the women to economic depression by their husband.

Domestic violence among African women between 1970 and 1980 was mainly caused by male chauvinism where husband on many occasions feel that he needs to control and dominate over their women. Domestic violence abusers in these durations were usually feeling the need to dominate over their partners mainly because of extreme jealousy, low self-esteem or sometimes having difficulties in controlling anger thus makes them commit the vise of domestic violence to their partners (Coker, Donna). Domestic violence in the early 1980s was also as a result of one the husbands feeling inferior mainly due to different economic and social background. Gender war among African women between late 1970s and early 1980s was substantially caused by sociocultural mores as anthropologist determined that differences in cultures regarding the number of acceptability results to violence often results to violence in the various societies in Africa.

The other reasons that were mainly resulting into domestic violence in Africa are cases where the husbands are involved in the use of drug abuses such as alcoholism. Statistics in Africa indicates that alcoholism results to between 25 to 85 percent of domestic violence across African families and up to 75 percent of acquaintance rape among the African women. Alcoholism and substance abuse is significantly linked to physical aggression among families by the different researchers conducted across the world. The relationship between violence and alcoholism is usually a complex one since it often involves physiological, sociocultural and psychosocial factors. Addiction plays a significant role in causing domestic violence in Africa since it interferes with the individuals’ cognitive processes and in particular social cognition (Bozo, Aurela). Also, studies prove that men under the influence of alcohol are more likely to misperceive ambiguous or sometimes neutral cues as suggestive of sexual interest and sometimes they can ignore that their partner are unwilling to take part in sexual intercourse hence resulting to violence and aggression in such families.

Culturally women battering in the late 1970s and early 1980s in Africa was mainly viewed as a private matter, and nobody was allowed to intervene, also in these durations police and other medical practitioner’s groups were exceedingly reluctant to intrude into private affairs or issues that were deemed to be husband and wife affairs. In the early 1980s, most African customs did not accept wife battering, and they often regard it with a lot of humor. Abused women mostly in this period had limited access to services in times of crisis; most societies offered shelters or temporary housing structures for woman categorized as homeless or displaced. During the stated period, an understanding of women who decide to shelter or support themselves did not exist. Women who were buttered in the late 1970s often found themselves with little to no social support, or sometimes they lack anywhere to go (Livingston, Michael).

In conclusion in the early 1980s consequences of domestic violence among African women were broader than the impacts of the women victims. Abuse affected not only the women alone but also their families and friends. In cases of intimate partner violence, there is numerous increasing evidence of the various negative impact on their children’s exposure to family violence at an early age. Domestic violence in Africa affects the society economically, both in the utilization of raw materials and through the loss of productivity mainly due fear and injury that it causes to the African women. Therefore, the vice affected the growth and development of Africa between 1970s and 1980s,

References

Bozo, Aurela. “Domestic Violence, Institutional Response And Challenges In Addressing Domestic Violence In Albania.” Mediterranean Journal Of Social Sciences, 2015, Walter De Gruyter Gmbh, doi:10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n1s1p450.

Coker, Donna. “Domestic Violence And Social Justice.” Violence Against Women, vol 22, no. 12, 2016, pp. 1426-1437. SAGE Publications, doi:10.1177/1077801215625851.

Livingston, Michael. “A Longitudinal Analysis Of Alcohol Outlet Density And Domestic Violence.” Addiction, vol 106, no. 5, 2011, pp. 919-925. Wiley-Blackwell, doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.2010.03333.x.