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Faculty of Management Sciences

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    Restoring social cohesion after widespread rape of women in Democratic Republic of the Congo’s local community through conflict transformation : a case study
    (2023) Mauwa, Josephine Kimanu; Kaye, Sylvia Blanche; Harris, Geoffrey Thomas
    Armed conflicts have caused extreme human suffering in which rape against women has been a major and gruesome factor. This is true in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Although the issue of sexual violence is documented throughout the country, the South Kivu region remains the most affected. The systematic and widespread sexual violence has wreaked havoc and destroyed social cohesion at the individual, relational and community levels in South Kivu. The damage to social cohesion has been seen in threats to the community dimensions of rape survivors, children born from rape, and perpetrators, all of whom are the main components of the inquiry. This damage has led the community to shape and produce as social outcasts a marginalised group of women, unwanted children born from rape, and outlawed perpetrators. Community cohesiveness has also been threatened and complicated by the frivolous culture based on sexual socialization before rape incidents. Hence, the need to address social cohesion after widespread rape in South Kivu is enormous. The aim of this research was to explore the ways in which social cohesion could be restored by means of conflict transformation in local communities in South-Kivu after widespread rape against women that occurred between 1996 and 2016. Although various responses have focused on women as victims of rape and have ignored both children born of rape and the perpetrators, they are also affected. This weakens the rape survivors’ social reintegration. Therefore, the children and the perpetrators need to be included in the process of recreating social cohesion. Conflict transformation was used to contribute to restoring social cohesion, with positive results for rape survivors. Interventions were done in three main ways: training, family dialogue mixed with community awareness involving community leaders and custom law-keepers, and the creation of literacy centres. The use of participatory action research methodology led to increased knowledge from training, an improvement in relationships, and the boosting of rape survivors’ leadership capabilities and skills. The overall results of the inquiry reveal that mechanisms of social reintegration for rape survivors lies in their acceptance, through which rape survivors’ post-traumatic growth and quality of relationships in the community are enhanced. Thus, community cohesiveness and the rape survivors’ restoration of intra- and inter-personal relationships remains a shared responsibility, with each main group affected resorting to specific mechanisms for healing, be they self-initiated or supported.
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    A discourse on the plight of South African women in the face of abuse and neglect
    (University of the Western Cape, 2021-10-25) Fagbadebo, Omololu
    An upsurge in the rate of violence against women has an adverse effect on women in South Africa. Sadly, many South African women who are the victims of violent sexual conduct, such as rape and other forms of violent sexual abuse, have in part contributed to the prevalence of HIV/AIDS infection among women. Of the 7,7 million South African living with HIV/AIDS in 2018, 4,7 million were women, while another 69 000 were among the new infections. They are more vulnerable to HIV infections with 21,17 percent of women living with the disease. Using personal conversations, literature searches and documents for primary and secondary data, this article argues that value orientation that ascribes superiority to men has damaging consequences on the status of women. South African women are exposed to violent habitual actions of men that denigrate their womanhood. The article, therefore, submits that there is a need to reinforce civil society and strengthen the justice system for the protection and promotion of the rights and freedom of women. Aside from this, the government should increase its commitment to the enforcement of requisite legislative frameworks that safeguard the rights and freedom of women, and review punishments for any acts of violence against women.