Exploring the Underlying Socio-Cultural Dynamics of Domestic Violence against Women by their Intimate Partners: A Contextualized Study of Rural Localities in Southern Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

Domestic violence is considered as a serious socio-psychological and public health issue that has imperative implications on fecundity of women. This paper put forward consolidate findings about the prevalence of domestic violence in rural localities of Southern Punjab, Pakistan. The contextual realities demonstrated that women are considered to be subordinated in front of their marital partners where gender oppression is considered to be a “normal life phenomenon.” The researchers used obtrusive observations along with in-depth interviewing techniques to explore the contextualized underlying dynamics of the study phenomenon. The findings of this study demonstrate that husband was considered to own the hegemonic masculine powers, while women were subordinated in front of their intimate partners. Moreover, mother-in-law was also considered to be the most provoking person for aggravating domestic violence in household context. These violent acts directly affected the reproductive health of these victimized married females. Henceforth, education prevalence, gender awareness and role of sociologists to address the structural problems are the major recommendations that can be adopted to resolve this issue.