Intimate partner violence is one of the most common forms of violence against women and includes physical, sexual, emotional and controlling.
And sad part is that most women fail to come out in the open of fear of being victimized by family and friends. Abuse is a horrible experience. It leaves the victim in an abnormal state of mind it centers on the attempt of abusers to have power over the victim and control them.
I recently conducted an interview in matero. i managed to speak to a lot of women, but one story of a certain woman touched me the most whose name is ruth. ruth is a mother of four children and she has been married for over 21years.her husband is a businessman whose name is Charles phiri.
Mr Charles abusers ruth physically and emotionally. He beats her at any given opportunity in the presence of her children when he comes home drunk. Even outside in front of her neighbors by stripping her naked. Now this has really affected ruth physically and emotionally. She went on explaining saying, Mr. Charles his not even a responsible man, Ruth takes care of almost all the family needs in the selling of vegetables outside her yard.
Having talked to ruth, i discovered that people who are being abused find it hard to trust, may lose touch with what normal behavior is, they have difficulty maintaining focus and drive. Also struggle to start something new due to negativity.
But i was so impressed with ruth that despite the husband not being supportive she manages with the little business to provide for her family. people like ruth need help by providing a better capital for her business, because children not only need food or accommodations but education too.
Prevention strategies for intimate partner violence are: Efforts should be that, reduce the occurrence of IPV by promoting healthy, respectful nonviolent relationships. Healthy relationships can be protective factors at the individual, relationships, community and social level. This is where the government should come in with full force. because if women in Matero are not protected a lot of killing will be happening in marriages.
