Community stakeholders’ views on reducing violence against women in Pakistan

Abstract

Background: Nearly half of the women experience violence across their lifespan in all the provinces of Pakistan at an alarming rate. Despite knowing the prevalence, there has been meager progress in developing strategies to combat violence at individual, family, or community level. Many interventions suggested in other countries have been pilot tested but the effects of those interventions had been limited. Therefore, the aim of this study is to understand the voices of stakeholders to reduce Violence Against Women (VAW) and to explore the possible community-based strategies that could be implemented in Pakistan. Methods: A total of 14 Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and 18 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were held across all four provinces of Pakistan. Participants were purposefully recruited and all the interviews were audio-recorded. Transcriptions were open coded and content analysis was done to emerge codes, categories and themes. Ethical approval was obtained from Aga Khan University Ethics Review Committee. Results: Three major themes emerged on community members and stakeholders' views on VAW: a) community's perception of VAW b) the repercussions of VAW, and c) multiple voices regarding strategies to reduce VAW. Participants voiced the need of standing against the status quo, role of awareness and education: regarding capacity building skills, promotion of women rights and women empowerment through Life Skills Based Education (LSBE) through national health works program, has been proposed as an innovative strategy to reduce VAW. Conclusions: The responsibility to bring about a substantial change in behavior and attitudes must begin with engaging men in all the interventions that aim to reduce violence. Since, VAW is very much linked with the cultural norms, so, without community stakeholder's involvement and participation it could never be reduced. Keeping the existing socio-cultural dynamics in mind, the need of time is to design and implement innovative interventions that are culturally and contextually appropriate and can be expanded across the country.

Education and Intimate Partner Violence Among Married Women in Nigeria: A Multilevel Analysis of Individual and Community-Level Factors

“…A study across social classes demonstrated an inverse relationship between community financial status and a woman’s risk of IPV: as social class increases, the likelihood of IPV decreases. Community-level factors such as poverty, low socioeconomic status were found to be associated with the risk of IPV in Pakistan (Ali et al, 2020). The community where women received income from their husbands or partners had a lower likelihood of being abused by these men.…”

“…The community where women received income from their husbands or partners had a lower likelihood of being abused by these men. As the women’s income relative to that of their husbands/partners increased, so did their likelihood of being abused (Ali et al, 2020). Surprisingly, community labor force participation was not significantly related to IPV in this study which contravenes the earlier study about the negative impacts of women’s employment on their well-being with the resultant effect on IPV.…”

“…For the fact that the scientific community knows very little about the sociocultural factors that encourage IPV among women, the specific community-level factors on IPV included in this article are community level of education; community wealth status, and the community media exposure. Studies have shown these community variables as emerging factors for IPV (Ali et al, 2020; Flake, 2005; Lansford & Dodge, 2008; Oyediran & Feyisetan, 2017; Qing et al, 2010; Tadegge, 2008). In the study which Ackerson et al (2008) conducted in India, they found that educated women enjoyed a higher level of protection in a high literacy environment relative to a low literacy environment.…”

Implementation, Stakeholders` Participation and Sustainability of Public Projects in Kenya: A Conceptual Framework

“…Thus, investing on stakeholders` capacities eases implementation challenges leading to better chances of project sustainability. Socio-cultural dynamics of stakeholders are also important predictor of project sustainability (Ali et al, 2020). However, the dynamics of stakeholders` capacity makes it more difficult to predict the contribution of stakeholders to project sustainability.…”

Gender-based violence in Pakistan and public health measures: a call to action

“…4 In Punjab, the most populous province in Pakistan, the conviction rate in rape cases was 4% (99/2343) in 2016, 5 and government resources to support the victims are scarce. 4 Many recent incidents of gender-based violence resulting in major physical injuries and even death have mobilized women in Pakistan; 6 however, the collective trauma of women in Pakistan might cause a reluctance to seek help due to the lack of appropriate services and community support. 2 Here, we call to action to mitigate gender-based violence, the consequences of which should be recognized as a humanitarian emergency in Pakistan – a country where women are not safe.…”