Politics of the Personal in Africa

Patriarchy has been defined as a “social system based on a hierarchy of inferiorities, privilege and the subjugation of women via strict gender expectations which constrain individualist expressions”. Within this socioeconomic hierarchy men (as a group) have a place above women (as a group) entitling men to greater benefits from the injustices of patriarchy than women.

Patriarchal violence, in turn, is defined as violence that creates or maintains patriarchal power or avenges the loss of power. It is rooted in the protection and defense of the patriarchal ideology and its power structures. Women suffer from verbal, physical, sexual psychological abuse and are abused in their home, on the streets, schools and workplace. The following global picture emerges with regard to women and violence abuse:
• One in every 3 women have been beaten, coerced into sex or abused in their lifetime.
• 30% - 60% of ever-partnered women have experienced physical violence by an intimate partner.
• 7% - 48% of young girl between the ages of 10 – 24 years report that their first sexual encounter was coerced.

The patriarchal ideology - which is widespread in Africa - celebrates inequality and hierarchy at the greatest expense of women. Because patriarchy ideology is deeply embedded in the social and political social institutions and legislation within society it shapes ethical norms, impacts upon attitudes and determines how people behave. Simply put the patriarch teaches people that the male standard is the default, and women because they are different from that standard are found to be lacking, inferior or inadequate.

Some of the norms prevalent in Africa that pave the way for violence against women are listed below:
• Gender based discrimination and inequality
• Censorship of information relating to safer sex, abortion, contraception and condoms
• HIV/Aids phobia
• Homophobia (lesbian and bisexual women)
• Forced marriage and wife inheritance
• Silence is consent – Considering sex and violence a private matter
• Anti-sex – The belief system that sex is dirty or wrong and is accompanied with guilt
• Substance abuse and history of violent abuse

There is undisputedly a high prevalence of violence against women in Africa. The question that we are now coming to grips with is the nexus between this violence against women and HIV infection. Violence is both the cause and consequence of HIV/Aids. As a cause, women who are HIV positive, experience greater levels of violence, discrimination, ostracization and abandonment from their partners, family and community. Fear of violence and the stigma attached to being HIV positive inhibits women from getting tested or seeking treatment. This is turn has devastating effects on HIV treatment and prevention and mother to child transmission.

As a consequence forced or coerced sex limits or negates womens’ ability to negotiate safe sexual behaviour, increasing their vulnerability to HIV infection. In violent sexual encounters condom usage, for example, is rare. Young women are particularly vulnerable due to the underdevelopment of their reproductive tracts. The stigma attached to rape also deters women from seeking treatment impacting upon HIV treatment. A history of sexual assault has also been found to have an impact upon willingness to use a condom. In a study in South Africa it was discovered that women who have experienced forced sex with their intimate partner are 6 times less likely to use condoms consistently. Violence and HIV infections also overlap in the realm of the intimate partner. This violence can be sexual, physical or psychological. Requests from women to use condoms, for example, can reveal suspicion, distrust or create hostility in their relationship. Women with abusive partners are also less likely to use condoms. Another study in South Africa found that women who are emotionally and financially dominated by their male partner were 52% more likely to be infected that those who are not.

Women struggle for rights to control decision-making about marriage, economics, family, sexuality and reproduction. Women who experience violence are limited in their power to negotiate sexual choices and therefore bear the brunt of HIV/Aids. It is the major reason why women are more vulnerable to infection than men. In Trinidad and Tobago, for example, women in their late teens are 6 times more likely to be HIV positive than men in the same age group.

One angle that sheds light on this persistent violence against women is through understanding social norms theory. Social norms are defined as the customary rules of behaviour that coordinate people’s expectations and their interaction with others. They are statements based on some degree of consensus that regulate behaviour and therefore play a pivotal role in the construction of social order. Examples of norms are consensus on issues such as which commodity is accepted as money, which hand to greet with or our sense of obligation to family.

A central concept in social norm theory is that people’s behaviour is strongly influenced by their perceptions of what is “normal” or “typical.” According to the social norms approach the behaviour of an individual will be strongly influenced on what people think – even if the perceptions are mistaken. To effectively disrupt the discriminatory and prejudicial norms that fuel violence against women we must identify which behaviour we seek to change, identify the norms or perceptions that support undesirable behaviour and, lastly, realign perceptions with reality. Put simply, if you want to change human behaviour, critically engage and change the norm that supports it.

This is exactly what Project Concern International (PCI) seeks to achieve in South Africa. PCI is a non-profit health and humanitarian aid organization dedicated to preventing disease, improving community health, and promoting sustainable development. It, in turn, works with two South African based partners – the Western Cape and Kwazulu Natal Networks on Violence Against Women. The main objective of PCI’s South African project is to harness the power of norms to bring about social change. In particular, the study is concerned with reducing the prevalence of HIV infection in South Africa by disrupting the social norm that supports violence against women.

A case where this approach has been successful is at James Madison University in the United States. Most males, they found, were mistaken about other male’s attitudes and behaviour towards sex. Male students, for example, typically believed that other men do not employ consent in relationships and are comforted by negative attitudes towards women. In reality, however, the majority of men stated that they seek consent in intimate relationships and are, in fact, uncomfortable with language and behaviour that objectifies and hurts women. These actual norms are then reported back to the target group, men, and in doing so liberate men from their own perceptions. The men concerned feel that they no longer have to live up to an imagined false norm of behaviour and are therefore free to act on their true feelings. When the values and behaviour of the patriarch become hegemonic, they cause men to ‘hide parts of themselves’ that are inconsistent with it. Engaging men as the ally will mean that ‘men come out of hiding’ by expressing their true feelings and behaviour that will serve to inhibit violence against women.

There is nothing natural or inevitable about violence against women. Women are human beings and are entitled to a set of human rights that ensure that they live their lives based on human dignity. It is for this reason that the work set forward by PCI in South Africa is commendable. It challenges societal attitudes about gender, sexuality and HIV/Aids. These issues go straight to the heart of culture, religion, identity and access and distribution of resources. In doing so they force us to ask and answer the hard questions that most men and women are more comfortable forgetting. However, as the global statistics around violence against women suggest, the skeletons in our closet are coming back to haunt us. After all, if more than half of the human race lacks power and are intimidated in their most intimate spaces, how can it not be personal?

Kara MacKay
Researcher and Consultant
Mthente Research and Consulting Services