Transition Towards Gender Equality

Gierse-Arsten Sonja

Description

Worldwide, Namibia ranks high regarding gender equality. However, many women are intimidated by violence perpetrated by men. This book is based on a social anthropological field research in the small town of Outjo, situated in Northern Central Namibia, over a period of 14 months. Gender is learnt, lived and reproduced in a societal frame. Violence against women, too, is perpetrated by men in a societal context. By using mainly qualitative research methods, Sonja Gierse-Arsten looks at male and female perspectives to reach a holistic understanding and to provide a basis for sustainable changes towards equal gender relations. She traces the transition from a hierarchical gender system during colonial times to the aspired equal gender relations in present Namibia. Current challenges characterised by poverty and great economic inequalities form the framework in which gender is performed and violence perpetrated. This study offers inspirations to re-think gender to reach substantive gender equality and to overcome the normalisation of violence.

Sujets

• Gender Studies
• Social Science
• Sociologie, société et politique

Informations

• Publié par: Basler Afrika Bibliographien
• Date de parution: 10 janvier 2024
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9783906927558
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

Transition Towards Gender Equality

S onja G ierSe -a rSten

Transition Towards Gender Equality Namibia Between the Empowerment of Women and Violence of Men

Basel Namibia Studies Series 28

Basler Afrika Bibliographien 2023

Note on this Edition: Sonja Gierse-Arsten originally submitted her work as a doctoral thesis to the

Philipps-University Marburg (Germany) in 2020 with the same title.

©2023 The author ©2023 Basler Afrika Bibliographien

Basler Afrika Bibliographien Namibia Resource Centre & Southern Africa Library Klosterberg 23 PO Box 4010 Basel Switzerland www.baslerafrika.ch

Cover illustration by Helena Schmidt.

All rights reserved.

eISBN978-3-906927-55-8

“Change means growth, and growth can be painful” (Audre Lorde, 1997:380)

Basel Namibia Studies Series

In 1997,PublishingP. Schlettwein (PSP) launched theBasel Namibia Studies Series. Its pri- mary aim was to lend support to a new generation of research, scholars and readers emerg- ing with the independence of Namibia in 1990. Initially, the book series published crucially important doctoral theses on Namibian his- tory. It soon expanded to include more recent political, anthropological, media and cultural history studies by Namibian scholars. P. Schlettwein Publishing,as an independent publishing house, maintained the series in collaboration with theBasler Afrika BibliographienNamibia Resource Centre and (BAB), Southern Africa Library in Switzerland. All share a commitment to encourage research on Africa in general and southern Africa in particular. Through the incorporation of PSP into theCarl Schlettwein Stiftung,the series, by then a consolidated platform for Namibian Stud- ies and beyond, was integrated into the publishing activities of the BAB. Academic publishing, whether from or about Namibia, remains limited. TheBasel Na- mibia Studies Seriescontinues to provide a forum for exciting scholarly work in the human and social sciences. The editors welcome contributions. For further information, or submission of manu- scripts, please contact theBasler Afrika Bibliographienat www.baslerafrika.ch.

Contents

Acknowledgements

List of abbreviations

Forewordby Jennifer Wies

1 Introduction 1.1 Conceptualisations of gender and violence 1.2 Current state of research on gender and violence against women in Namibia 1.3 Field research on gender and violence: methodologies, challenges and  responses 1.4 Research site of small town Outjo: unequal living realities

ix

xii

xvi

1 7 31

45 69

2 Gender and violence in Namibia before Independence 84 2.1 German colonial era: African and European gender concepts, Christianisation  and establishing a system of violence 85 2.2 South African colonial era: continuation and expansion of a violent system 95 2.3 Summary 125

3 Aspirations towards equality and challenges since Independence 3.1 Constitution-making and political awareness of women’s situation 3.2 National Gender Policies, campaigns and new legislation to eliminate  discrimination against women and to enforce gender equality 3.3 Violence against women: interventions and challenges 3.4 Summary

4 Uncertainties in times of change 4.1 Poverty, economic inequality and their rami⁞cations 4.2 Feeling unsafe: fears, mistrust, and palliating a diĹcult past 4.3 “Problems with the youth” – inter-generational relations in transition and  normalisation of violence 4.4 Summary

131 131

141 150 166

169 169 177

184 198

5

6

7

8

9

Changing and ambiguous gender constructions 5.1 Changes in static gender perceptions 5.2 Gender relations and challenges in heterosexual intimate relationships 5.3 Summary

Lack of respect? – Perspectives of males 6.1 Masculinity constructions and relations with women: dominance and  emerging alternatives 6.2 Males and violence 6.3 Summary

Women’s empowerment? – Perspectives of females 7.1 Femininity constructions and relations with men: subordination and  emerging alternatives 7.2 Females and violence 7.3 Summary

Males violate females: violated equality 8.1 Intimidated and misunderstood: females’ narratives of violence 8.2 Attitudes towards violated females: victim blaming, hierarchies of rape  and normalisation of violence against women 8.3 E⁝ects of violence against females in the intimate sphere 8.4 Summary

Conclusions: Gender (in-)equality struggles 9.1 Research results and interpretations 9.2 Future perspectives

Epilogue

References

Transcription symbols

Overview of research participants

Index

200 200 222 240

242

244 275 302

305

307 343 354

357 357

395 402 411

415 415 431

444

445

476

476

480

Acknowledgements

It was a long and adventurous, and at times challenging, path to research violence and gen- der in Namibia. Many people have shared in supporting me and my research along this way. First and foremost, I want to thank the research participants for entrusting their per- sonal narratives to me. They revealed their personal stories for the purpose of research. This includes the narratives of victims and survivors of violence who were courageous enough to talk about their su⁝ering. It was important for them to increase knowledge about and empathy towards victims and survivors of violence, as well as to provide information about the consequences of violence. The research participants’ narratives are fundamental to this thesis; without their input this book would not have been possible. At the Institute of Ethnology at the University of Cologne in Germany I would like to thank Professor Michael Bollig for inviting me to conduct my PhD under his supervision and making it possible to use the facilities of the ACACIA project of the SFB 389 in Na- mibia. Werner Schuck of the SFB 389 was always supportive and provided hands-on as- sistance. Furthermore, I was grateful to Professor Dorothea Schulz of the same institute for subsequently agreeing to supervise my work until my second pregnancy. I am especially grateful to Professor Godula Kosack of the Institute of Social and Cul- tural Anthropology at the Philipps University of Marburg who undertook responsibility for supervising the dissertation. She guided me through the challenging jungle of scienti⁞c analysis and writing and helped me to focus and redesign the whole study in order to adapt it to my ⁞eld research results. Our meetings took place in a warm and amiable atmosphere and her loyal support when things took longer than anticipated allowed me to regain trust, for which I would particularly like to thank her. The German Academic Exchange Service supported my ⁞rst research stay in Namibia ⁞nancially, I appreciate very much. I am especially grateful to the Rosa Luxemburg Foun- dation for their ⁞nancial support via a full scholarship. The Foundation gave me access to workshops, knowledge, and scienti⁞c exchange. The supervision workshop, in particular, provided an excellent opportunity for violence researchers to exchange ideas and give use- ful hints on how to deal with traumatic research topics. Moreover, my second research stay in Namibia was also ⁞nanced by the Foundation. I am thankful to Daniela Landgraf, Dr. Markus Hawel and Silke van Issem at the Foundation for being so sympathetic towards a Ph. D student combining scienti⁞c work with having children. I am especially thankful to Professor Jens Naumann who supported my work during the diĹcult time of transition of supervision.

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