Across the public/private boundary: contextualising domestic violence in South Africa

Abstract

abstract In this article we plan to challenge two aspects of the public/private dichotomy based on its relevance in the South African context. Firstly, we question the assumption that women's experiences of violence are private and thus a secret, and secondly we assert that the notion of the ‘public’ includes social discourses on domestic violence that have not been adequately acknowledged and addressed. These discourses are powerful in determining women's decisions to act (or not) after experiencing domestic violence, and hence are potentially harmful to women. We conclude that the way the theoretical notion of the public vs private is understood fundamentally shapes intellectual and service responses. The result is that service providers, when working with survivors of abuse, are still operating from the base of inappropriate imported theories that neglect to explain domestic violence in convincing, local ways, which means that opportunities for assistance to women and men are lost.