The responses of women interfaced with domestic violence and the implications on the household welfare

Abstract

The aim of the study was to examine the different responses of women interfaced with domestic violence and the implications on the household welfare. To examine this, several categories of people were purposively selected. Respondents in this study included women who have ever faced domestic violence, leaders in the community and married women and men of Kikunyu village in Mpigi district. The study utilized Radical feminist theory which explains the root causes of women’s oppression. Further, the study utilized the concept patriarchy to explain the power struggles between men and women. And lastly the study employed the concept Agency to understand women’s responses to domestic violence. The study established that domestic violence is only understood as physical abuse but still, some physical abuse is also treated as a mechanism to manage the home effectively. In what seems to be a “choiceless” situation, women make “choices” and whatever choice they make has capacity to achieve a given goal. Women may be seen to be passive recipients of violence, but they fight back indirectly in form of deception, manipulation, disguise, subversion and negotiation. On rare occasions, women respond to domestic violence in form of resistance and protest. Women mainly fight back indirectly such that they punish their abusers yet stay with them so that their children may not suffer if they abandoned their marriages. As a result, food production of the homes which are affected by domestic violence reduces since women withdraw part of their labour. Stemming from the findings, the study recommends that the different actors in the fight against VAW should understand the meaning of domestic violence from the community’s perspective. Also the office of the probation and that of the department of Family Protection Unit in Uganda police should extend to all sub counties and be able to reach the grassroots.