Re-constructing discourses of love to facilitate help-seeking after woman abuse

Rasool, Shahana

doi:10.1080/10130950.2013.807041

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 16 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Lack of condom use within established relationships has repeatedly been linked to perceptions of love, emotional intimacy and trust (Parikh, 2007; Stern & Buikema, 2013), and condom promotion efforts have attempted to reframe condom use as an expression of mutual care and love (Cusick & Rhodes, 2000). Yet love, affection, and tenderness may coexist with power inequities and even violence (Jewkes, Levin, & Penn-Kekana, 2002; Rasool, 2013). Research from South Africa has shown that love may be constructed in ways that legitimize male dominance and IPV (Wood, Maforah, & Jewkes, 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Love matters: exploring conceptions of love in Rwanda and Swaziland and relationship to HIV and intimate partner violence

Ruark

Stern

Dlamini-Simelane³

et al. 2017

African Journal of AIDS Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Health risks such as intimate partner violence (IPV) and HIV infection often occur within intimate sexual relationships, yet the study of love and intimacy is largely absent from health research of African populations. This study explores how women and men in Rwanda and Swaziland understand and represent love in their intimate sexual partnerships. In Rwanda, 58 in-depth interviews with 15 couples, 12 interviews with activists, and 24 focus group discussions were carried out during formative and evaluative research of the Indashyikirwa programme, which aims to reduce IPV and support healthy couple relationships. In Swaziland, 117 in-depth, life-course interviews with 14 women and 14 men focused on understanding intimate sexual partnerships. We analyzed these qualitative data thematically using a Grounded Theory approach. Participants described love as being foundational to their intimate sexual partnerships. Women and men emphasized that love is seen and expressed through actions and tangible evidence such as gifts and material support, acts of service, showing intentions for marriage, sexual faithfulness, and spending time together. Some participants expressed ambivalent narratives regarding love, gifts, and money, acknowledging that they desired partners who demonstrated love through material support while implying that true love should be untainted by desires for wealth. IPV characterized many relationships and was perceived as a threat to love, even as love was seen as a potential antidote to IPV. Careful scholarship of love is critical to better understand protective and risk factors for HIV and IPV and for interventions that seek to ameliorate these risks.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Love matters: exploring conceptions of love in Rwanda and Swaziland and relationship to HIV and intimate partner violence

Ruark

Stern

Dlamini-Simelane³

et al. 2017

African Journal of AIDS Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, only 0.3% of the women reported domestic violence to the police (Gould, 2011). The reasons abused women in South Africa remain in abusive relationships for long periods are multifaceted and complex, with factors ranging from the interpersonal to the macro, including notions of love (Rasool, 2013), forever after marriages, financial dependence, socio-cultural constraints, unresponsive systems (Rasool, 2011). The reasons abused women in South Africa remain in abusive relationships for long periods are multifaceted and complex, with factors ranging from the interpersonal to the macro, including notions of love (Rasool, 2013), forever after marriages, financial dependence, socio-cultural constraints, unresponsive systems (Rasool, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Help-Seeking After Domestic Violence

Rasool

2015

J Interpers Violence

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Limited knowledge is available on the conditions that contribute to women's help-seeking after domestic violence in South Africa. Qualitative research conducted with 17 abused women in shelters in South Africa indicate that the best interests of children are influential both in women's decisions to stay in abusive relationships and to seek help. The personal decisions of women to seek help are influenced by powerful social discourses on the best interests of the child. Policy and practice that advocate for the best interests of the child need to prioritize the safety of both mothers and their children in domestic violence situations.

show abstract

“…Penetrative sex with men can be enjoyable; its pleasure for women is not merely eroticised submission (Segal, 1994;Van Every, 1996). As argued by Bhana (2013), relations should not only be perceived in terms of male power; men and women as gendered persons express love alongside the daily battles of power; and as presented by Rasool (2013) women have capacity to contest and shape their lives as they reflect on violent love. The study also established that contrary to Maitra and Schensul's (2002) claims that women in communal rural areas do not desire sex and as a result do not reach orgasm, in this study they desired sex and were most likely to reach orgasm than their colleagues in affluent residential areas.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bhana (2013) agrees with Hirsch (2007) that relations should not only be perceived in terms of male power; men and women as gendered persons express love alongside the daily battles of power. For Rasool (2013) women have capacity to contest and shape their lives as they reflect on violent love. Therefore, women are not just victims of romantic love but find spaces to negotiate their identity, as they navigate their economic circumstances (Herlihy, 2013).…”

Section: Orientation Of the Study Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Reason We Marry: Perceptions of Women’s Sexual Experiences in Zimbabwe

2019

RHSS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study is an interrogation of views and experiences of sexual encounters of women from affluent urban settings and those from traditional communal areas in the communities of Zimbabwe. The study is based on women only WhatsApp groups discussions on their sex lives. Using evidence from the sentiments, views, perceptions and experiences of women from the two different settings, this paper argues that women enjoy heterosexuality; their only problem is that their male colleagues do not perform up to their expectations. This state of affairs makes some segments of feminist scholars think that heterosexuality puts women in a perpetual subordinate position that reduces them to the mothering roles linked to their reproductive capacities. Nonetheless, the female voices in this study argue that although in some cases, they still experience oppression and dissatisfaction women in heterosexual relations have agency and capacity to assert themselves and control their sexual experiences so that they also enjoy sex to optimum levels. The study shows that women are not always passive participants within heterosexual relations for they are able to express their sexual desires freely and sometimes negotiate options for pleasurable sexual experiences. The study shows that heterosexuality is neither a hegemonic nor monolithic one size fits all experience, but a multifaceted heterogeneous experience in which both women and men negotiate their cases in their own special ways.

show abstract

Re-constructing discourses of love to facilitate help-seeking after woman abuse

Cited by 9 publications

References 16 publications

Love matters: exploring conceptions of love in Rwanda and Swaziland and relationship to HIV and intimate partner violence

Love matters: exploring conceptions of love in Rwanda and Swaziland and relationship to HIV and intimate partner violence

Help-Seeking After Domestic Violence

The Reason We Marry: Perceptions of Women’s Sexual Experiences in Zimbabwe

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About