Community leaders’ perceptions of and responses to intimate partner violence in Northwestern Ghana

Abstract

Calls to engage community leaders in preventing gender-based violence against women have gained global prominence in recent years. Situated within the growing calls for greater community leaders’ engagement, this article problematizes the assumptions that efforts to mobilize community gatekeepers in violence prevention are likely to yield better results. Drawing inspiration from decolonial African feminist perspectives coupled with five focus group discussions conducted with 30 community leaders in the patriarchal setting of Northwestern Ghana, this article highlights the potential limitations of these assumptions by paying attention to the multiple ways; albeit subtly, in which community leaders as cultural gatekeepers may individually or collectively reproduce and sustain dominant cultural tropes that normalize violence against women. Our findings show that cultural gatekeepers’ perspectives on and their approaches to addressing violence against women risk normalizing and perpetuating it. If policy makers, development practitioners, and researchers are to adequately address the violence of men, a useful starting point is to build on community leaders’ perspectives, attitudes, and responses to violence as a collective issue. By building on these, we will be able to challenge and deconstruct the multiple ways in which community leaders’ approaches to addressing violence are reinforcing gendered subordination.

Cultural collectivism, intimate partner violence, and women's mental health: An analysis of data from 151 countries

“…There is evidence that the reactions of one's social circle to the disclosure of IPV has a considerable effect on the mental health and wellbeing of victims. Such reactions are themselves influenced by the attitudes of those receiving such disclosures (Dworkin et al, 2019 ; Ullman, 2023 ), and these attitudes, whether positive or negative, are themselves shaped by local cultural values (Dery et al, 2022 ; Zark and Satyen, 2022 ). This suggests that attempts to either enhance these local support networks (Cao et al, 2021 ) or promote attitudinal change among community leaders or “gatekeepers” (Dery et al, 2022 ), may be helpful in preventing or mitigating the effects of IPV on women's mental health.…”

Conceptualising the separation from an abusive partner as a multifactorial, non-linear, dynamic process: A parallel with Newton’s laws of motion

“…This may, in turn, negatively influence survivors’ perception of services ( Paranjape et al, 2007 ; Robinson and Spilsbury, 2008 ; Ragusa, 2013 ) and enhance feelings of helplessness, isolation and vulnerability ( Macy et al, 2005 ). Lastly, cultural and religious norms are also widely recognised as significant factors in stay/leave decisions, with multiple studies indicating that cultural and religious norms might make it harder for victims to disclose the abuse, seek help and ultimately end the abuse ( Bell and Mattis, 2000 ; Kyriakakis, 2014 ; Sabri et al, 2018 ; Dery et al, 2022 ; Li et al, 2022 ). Conversely, however, local stakeholders (e.g., religious representatives and community members) might also provide valuable support to victims, allowing them to disclose the abuse and offering guidance during the separation process ( Pyles, 2007 ; Shalabi et al, 2015 ; Sabri et al, 2018 ).…”