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Intimate Partner Violence in Cohabiting Relationships: Young Women's Voices from Rural Vhembe District, South Africa

Matamela Makongoza (Department of Psychology, School of Community and Development, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa)

Peace Kiguwa (Department of Psychology, School of Community and Development, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa)

Simangele Mayisela (Department of Psychology, School of Community and Development, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa)

Cohabitation and the Evolving Nature of Intimate and Family Relationships

ISBN: 978-1-80455-419-7, eISBN: 978-1-80455-418-0

Publication date: 8 December 2023

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a social issue that continues to haunt humans globally. Despite the magnitude of research that has been conducted, the Sustainable Developmental Goals target 5.2, and the South African proposed National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide, South Africa experiences high incidences of IPV. In heterosexual couples, violence incidences are a concern that requires further research by scholars because cohabiting relationships are an increasing phenomenon within the African context. This study attempts to theorize from an African philosophical stance, focusing particularly on the African psychological perspective. In this chapter, The authors illuminate the nature and forms of violence that manifest in cohabiting relationships. This research explores participants’ experiences of IPV in cohabiting relationships.

This enquiry has been conceptualized using a qualitative constructivism paradigm with in-depth, unstructured one-on-one interviews. Interviews were conducted with 10 participants between the ages of 18 and 24 years recruited from the Thohoyandou Victim Empowerment Programme in Vhembe District in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Thematic analysis was used to generate themes while narrative analysis was used for the participants’ stories. Participants shared their self-reflections on their IPV experiences, deciding to leave their relationships, and threats from their partners when they tried to leave the relationships.

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Acknowledgements

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to extend my sincere gratitude to young women who shared their experiences of intimate partner relationships in cohabitation. The Thohoyandou Victim Empowerment Programme, thank you. A special appreciation to Khodani Mdau for professional assistance with transcribing and translating the interviews.

Citation

Makongoza, M., Kiguwa, P. and Mayisela, S. (2023), "Intimate Partner Violence in Cohabiting Relationships: Young Women's Voices from Rural Vhembe District, South Africa", Blair, S.L. and Zhang, Y. (Ed.) Cohabitation and the Evolving Nature of Intimate and Family Relationships (Contemporary Perspectives in Family Research, Vol. 24), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 211-235. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1530-35352023008

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited