Domestic violence and development: looking at the farming context

Rates of domestic violence are thought to be very high amongst farming communities in South Africa, yet very little specific information is available on the prevalence and nature of this problem. This paper considers the prevalence of domestic violence on selected farms in the Western Cape region and current responses to it by government and non-government organisations.The paper uses information from structured interviews with individuals, small groups (2-4 people), and one large group (25 people). The participants were 38 farm workers, eight farm managers, and individuals from development organisations working with farm workers and health service providers.Its findings include that:alcohol as a trigger of domestic violence was mentioned by all respondents, but whereas farm workers emphasised the stressful environment in which they lived, farm management expressed the view that such violence was a cultural norm among the workers’ communitieshealth care workers identified high stress levels, communication problems, low self-esteem, exhaustion and alcohol abuse as factors in domestic violencenon-governmental organisations generally did not have programmes focussing on domestic violence, but saw themselves as indirectly reducing the vulnerability of women farm workers to violence by improving their livelihoodsalthough many knew people who had used the 1998 Domestic Violence Act, most farm workers knew little about the content of this legislation, and there were reports of police not taking applications from farm workers seriouslyfarm managers indicated that the extended imprisonment of a male employee would “necessitate” the ultimate eviction of his partner and family, meaning that the legal route was not realistic for most women who were victims of domestic violence.It recommends that:development practitioners should give careful consideration to the fact that the work that their programmes aimed at the empowerment of women, create shifts in the balance of power which may be accompanied by violence as men seek to reassert their authoritythey should therefore develop safety plans as a means of dealing with the potential risks to women that may arise out of the programmes or services that they offereducation around the Domestic Violence Act should be provided in a way that is sensitive to the peculiar risks that face women farm workers and should be accompanied by ongoing supporthealth care workers should receive ongoing training and support about how to deal with domestic violence.