Part III: Domestic Violence, Conjugal Relationships, and the Politics of the State in Postcolonial Africa

2016 ◽  
pp. 201-202
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
The State ◽  
Postcolonial Africa

Bored: A Pandemic of Domestic Violence

Partner Abuse ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-93
Author(s):  
Doris Sommer ◽  
Josefa Ros Velasco ◽  
Marco Abarca
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Primary Prevention ◽  
Psychological Stress ◽  
The State ◽  
Intimate Partners ◽  
Knowing How ◽  
Freedom Of Movement ◽  
New Approaches ◽  
Reasonable Answers

Alarm spreads among potential victims of domestic violence as cases multiply during the confinement required by COVID19, and authorities face the growing frustration of not knowing how to respond. The question of what to do begs the question of why the lockdown increases domestic violence. Loss of jobs, alcohol, and psychological stress are reasonable answers; but they are predictable and don't suggest new approaches for remedy. This essay considers an unsuspected if obvious trigger of violence at home. Boredom. It is a stressor that becomes intolerable as the pandemic lockdown continues. Since boredom is a volatile condition associated with the lack of engagement, and since boredom is resolved either creatively or violently, an evident program for primary prevention would be to provide disgruntled and potentially aggressive intimate partners with engaging activities. These activities address a responsibility of the State. When the State turns homes into places of involuntary confinement, it levies serious limitations on a range of human rights. Therefore, the State's obligation to address risks, including boredom, is a corollary to restricting freedom of movement. Perhaps the strategy to provide programs will face objections and skepticism. Why should potential perpetrators of violence be beneficiaries of pleasurable programs? And how can pleasure be a remedy when it carries a stigma of irresponsibility or sin? But a practical response to the spike in domestic violence will have to overcome this irrational stigma to become more strategic than moralizing (Sommer, 2014). We should address the spiral of aggression in ways that are effective, not reactive.

A Fraught Pairing

2019 ◽  
pp. 202-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie Nanasi
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
The State ◽  
U Visa

This chapter examines the tensions inherent in the U visa, a form of immigration relief that provides survivors of intimate partner violence a path to lawful status. Receipt of the U visa is contingent upon compulsory and continuing cooperation with law enforcement, which does not reflect the reality of the lives of many survivors of domestic violence, especially immigrant victims, who are uniquely unable, fearful or disinclined to engage with the state. As such, the vulnerabilities the U visa was intended to address are exacerbated and benefits to police and prosecutors are achieved at the expense of the victims Congress sought to protect.

Changing Contours of Fiscal Policy and Budgets to Address Violence against Women

2019 ◽  
pp. 361-393
Author(s):  
Kanika Kaul
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Fiscal Policy ◽  
Violence Against Women ◽  
The State ◽  
Gender Violence ◽  
Policy Discourse ◽  
State Governments ◽  
Response Mechanism ◽  
Planning Commission ◽  
State Budgets

Recent years have witnessed important changes in planning and budgetary processes in the country. The constitution of NITI Aayog in place of the Planning Commission, restructuring of the Union Budget following the Union Government’s acceptance of the 14th Finance Commission recommendations and measures undertaken for rationalisation of Centrally Sponsored Schemes have marked gender implications. They also have a bearing on public financing of government programmes in a range of sectors, including those meant to address violence against women. The analysis of schemes to address violence against women by state governments in Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand presented in the chapter, reflects low priority towards the issue in the state budgets, indicating that the importance accorded to gender violence in policy discourse is yet to translate into budgetary priorities. The author concludes that budgetary dimensions of the state’s response to the issue require attention if we are to ensure a comprehensive response mechanism for women facing domestic violence.

Collective Activism: The Domestic Violence Bill becoming Law in Ghana

2008 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 395-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akosua Adomako Ampofo
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Social Movements ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Power ◽  
The State ◽  
Citizenship Rights ◽  
National Coalition ◽  
Domestic Violence Legislation ◽  
Collective Activism

Abstract This article reflects on contemporary struggles for citizenship rights through an examination of civil society's advocacy for the passage of domestic violence legislation in Ghana. The National Coalition on Domestic Violence Legislation, established in 2003 specifically to push for the passage of the legislation, at various times worked closely with, and at other times independently of, or even in conflict with, the state. These processes and engagements point to the vibrancy of civil society and suggest the need for new analyses of social movements, political power and democracy that are rooted in Africa's contemporary realities.

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