Abstract
BackgroundNearly 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.MethodsA 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.ResultsThree 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.ConclusionsThe 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.
Highlights
Half of the women experience violence across their lifespan in all the provinces of Pakistan at an alarming rate
Violence Against Women (VAW) encompasses physical, sexual and intimate partner violence leading to increase in Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) and reduced Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) amongst women [1]
The results of the Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) are discussed in line with the three selected domains of the study which assessed perceptions of community with regards to understanding of gender roles in the community, concept of masculinity, understanding and acceptance of acts of violence in the society and strategies to reduce such acts in the society
Summary
Half of the women experience violence across their lifespan in all the provinces of Pakistan at an alarming rate. VAW encompasses physical, sexual and intimate partner violence leading to increase in Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) and reduced Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) amongst women [1]. The women in Pakistan are generally expected to rear children, perform household chores, be submissive, and obey their husbands and families. It has been observed as a common practice for husbands and in-laws to restrict women’s autonomy and limit their rights and participation in decision-making, increasing the likelihood of women and girls becoming the victim of violence [5, 8]. Domestic violence is considered as a private matter, leading to normalization, denial and resilience among the victims in these areas which further entails inadequacy in reporting and documentation of such incidents in Pakistan [9]
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