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Accepted Paper:
Looking Beyond the Glass and High Walls: Exploring Sandton Women's Intimate Space of 'Love' and Violence
Morolake Adeagbo
(University of Johannesburg)
Paper short abstract:
Existing arguments often highlight how structures of urbanisation might trigger intimate partner violence for women in the society. In South Africa, Sandton is one of those urban spaces of interest - revealing progressive opportunities, but also susceptibility.
Paper long abstract:
Despite the evident affluent lifestyles that are underpinned by gendered power relations, limited discourses and discussions exist on the experiences and impacts of violence on women within the suburb of Sandton in Johannesburg. Moving towards the need for heterogeneous narratives of women affected by violence, we draw on the lived experiences of women who reside in the affluent neighbourhoods of Sandton, while using the emotionality and feminist frameworks. Narratives from both survivors and key stakeholders on issues of intimate partner violence were corroborated. The results highlight the influence of survivors' early socialisation, and the dynamics of the socio-cultural space, particularly the environment they were exposed to. The foundational tutelage inevitably impacts their responses to their experiences as they navigate life. Moreover, the consistent grappling with intimate partner violence, while putting on a brave façade to the world emerges as a coping mechanism that deserves further interrogation. The fear of isolation and loneliness, financial dependency and societal/religious pressures were also evident in most narratives. Although the narratives of women's experiences of violence are rooted in socio-cultural contexts and practices, and patriarchal and gender dynamics, intimate partner violence within urban spaces continues to be aggravated by some often overlooked and indirect agents of structural violence that are associated with urban spaces in South Africa. Redirecting the lens towards providing the needed social support and effective empowerment of all relevant agents within South African society will ultimately impact the lives of both the specific survivors and future generations in South Africa, irrespective of socially constructed identities.
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Accepted Paper:
Paper short abstract:
Paper long abstract:
Despite the evident affluent lifestyles that are underpinned by gendered power relations, limited discourses and discussions exist on the experiences and impacts of violence on women within the suburb of Sandton in Johannesburg. Moving towards the need for heterogeneous narratives of women affected by violence, we draw on the lived experiences of women who reside in the affluent neighbourhoods of Sandton, while using the emotionality and feminist frameworks. Narratives from both survivors and key stakeholders on issues of intimate partner violence were corroborated. The results highlight the influence of survivors' early socialisation, and the dynamics of the socio-cultural space, particularly the environment they were exposed to. The foundational tutelage inevitably impacts their responses to their experiences as they navigate life. Moreover, the consistent grappling with intimate partner violence, while putting on a brave façade to the world emerges as a coping mechanism that deserves further interrogation. The fear of isolation and loneliness, financial dependency and societal/religious pressures were also evident in most narratives. Although the narratives of women's experiences of violence are rooted in socio-cultural contexts and practices, and patriarchal and gender dynamics, intimate partner violence within urban spaces continues to be aggravated by some often overlooked and indirect agents of structural violence that are associated with urban spaces in South Africa. Redirecting the lens towards providing the needed social support and effective empowerment of all relevant agents within South African society will ultimately impact the lives of both the specific survivors and future generations in South Africa, irrespective of socially constructed identities.
Gendered Violence and Urban Transformations in the Global South I
Session 1 Thursday 7 July, 2022, -