Abstract
Gender-based violence (GBV) is a significant issue for youth in Guyana, particularly among young women. Yet, discussions about sex, dating, and violence rarely occur at the community level. To understand the heightened risk for GBV with youth in Guyana, we utilized a critical qualitative design to explore adolescent dating violence with adolescents (14–16 years old), parents, and school officials in a public secondary school in Guyana. In total, 36 racially and religiously diverse participants from low to middle-income households participated in focus groups (n = 30) and interviews (n = 6). Discussions centered on dating in adolescence; community awareness of dating violence; gender, racialization, and class in relation to dating violence; and dating violence prevention in schools and family settings. Our results revealed that heteronormative, adversarial gender roles in Guyana are enacted in adolescent relationships in ways that contribute to violence. Two important factors emerged in relation to femininity: female respectability related to sexuality; and the relationship between clothing, sexuality, and social class. Masculinity for adolescent boys was centered on reproducing normative assumptions about femininity and explaining the use of violence through pathologizing race. Participants were also asked to identify gender roles that adolescent boys and girls should embody in relationships, which revealed possibilities for overcoming adversarial roles in relationships. We propose that adolescent GBV prevention initiatives consider long-standing and deeply embedded ideas within gender norms that are connected to sexuality, class, and race. Without accounting for these systemic factors, GBV prevention initiatives and programs may inadvertently perpetuate traditional definitions of masculinity and femininity that contribute to violence.
Highlights
The most recent report on intimate partner violence (IPV) in Guyana indicates that within the 12 months prior to the report, the risk of experiencing physical and/or sexual violence was highest among younger women (15–24 years old) (Contreras-Urbina et al, 2019)
We propose that adolescent gender-based violence (GBV) prevention initiatives consider long-standing and deeply embedded ideas within gender norms that are connected to sexuality, class, and race
Experiences that arise from dating relationships are not discussed openly within community settings, even if at times they are discussed within the familial home. Our study addresses this gap in knowledge guided by the following research question: How are dating violence and its prevention in adolescence perceived in Guyana? To our knowledge, there is no other study that has examined adolescent dating violence with these community groups to consider how dating violence is socially reproduced in Guyana
Summary
The most recent report on intimate partner violence (IPV) in Guyana indicates that within the 12 months prior to the report, the risk of experiencing physical and/or sexual violence was highest among younger women (15–24 years old) (Contreras-Urbina et al, 2019). At 55% Guyana is well above the global average of 30% of women experiencing physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime (Contreras-Urbina et al, 2019; García-Moreno et al, 2013) These statistics align with research globally that indicates younger age can increase the risk of perpetration and victimization of IPV along with lower levels of education and socioeconomic status (Abramsky et al, 2011; Capaldi et al, 2012). Guyana’s racially diverse population was created through Indigenous dispossession, transatlantic slavery, and indentureship, with enslaved Africans and indentured laborers from India, China and Portugal brought to Guyana as labor for plantation economies (Haynes, 2012; Higman, 2010) These histories have created deep and abiding social hierarchies, colonial legacies that shape how racially diverse Guyanese people interact today
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