‘Every slap demeans me’: at the intersection of disability, masculinity and intimate partner violence in the Global South

Abstract

The experiences of heterosexual men with paraplegia who are the victims of intimate partner violence remains an under-researched area. This article responds to the call for more research and offers an analysis of the narratives of five working-class coloured men in Cape Town, South Africa, who acquired spinal cord injuries and then fell victim to intimate partner violence. Narrative interviews were conducted with men and their wives. Drawing on Tarzia’s notion of the ‘invisible impacts of intimate partner violence’, narrative analysis explored the meanings and complexities involved in (re)claiming a sense of identity and sexual intimacy among these men, after their experiences of intimate partner violence. In many cases, the abuse was levelled against them as acts of revenge for having previously been violent non-disabled men. Wives’ narratives show nuances that complement the narratives of their partners as they too reflect on what it means to hold a space of safety, emotional stability, intimacy, love, and care for a paralysed husband, after the prior experience of intimate partner violence. Findings provide insight into ways of surviving intimate partner violence and (re)building healthy sexual relationships. At the intersection of intimate partner violence, disability and masculinity, the process of self-healing and (re)building satisfying intimate relations coexists with breaking the silence surrounding intimate partner violence.