''A woman's place...': community-based approaches to gender-based violence in Malawi'
Gaynor, NiamhORCID: 0000-0001-5645-7032 and Cronin, Mairtin
(2017)
''A woman's place...': community-based approaches to gender-based violence in Malawi'.
Community Development Journal, 54
(2).
pp. 254-272.
ISSN 0010-3802
One in five women has experienced gender-based violence in Malawi and its incidence is
reported to be increasing. The importance of cultural norms, practices, discourses and
behaviours in both driving and addressing such violence is now well recognised. So too is
the attendant need to involve men as well as women in community interventions to address
this. In this context, this article draws on field research conducted in 2016 in two districts in
Northern and Southern Malawi exploring the successes and challenges posed by communitybased approaches (CBAs) to tackling GBV. We find that CBAs have yielded a number of
successes – notably a reported reduction in GBV as communications between couples have
improved and economic stresses within households reduced. However, we also find that
these same CBAs have raised a number of challenges. These centre around resource
distribution; the impact on local power dynamics; and CBA’s ability to challenge and
interrogate dominant norms, ideologies, identities and practices. Overall, we argue that,
while CBAs appear successful in transmitting the message to both women and men that GBV
is unlawful and wrong, their impacts on the principal underlying causal factors remain weak.
Item Type:
Article (Published)
Refereed:
Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:
Gender; Gender-based violence; Malawi; Community; Identity; Social norms; Patriarchy; NGO