Victims with Voices: The Conceptualisation, Lived Experiences and Resilience of Victims of Intimate Partner Violence in the Upper West Akyem District of Ghana

Abstract

This is a phenomenological study which explores how rural women conceptualise intimate partner violence (IPV) from their own perspectives. The study also examines the lived experiences and resilience of women who have been victimised in their intimate relationships. Two theoretical strands form the framework of this study and they are, the Integrative Feminist Model and the Strengths Perspective. The research combines two qualitative designs namely, in-depth interviews, and community forum. Data was gathered from sixty-seven respondents specifically, twenty-four IPV victims, three queen mothers and forty other women from the communities. The study was carried out in the Upper West Akyem District of the Eastern Region of Ghana. The study population is women because research shows that they form the majority of victims of IPV. Also, the focus is on rural areas for the reason that studies on intimate partner violence have largely concentrated on urban residents and much of our understanding of the phenomenon is largely based on urban circumstances. The findings of this study have been put into three themes; the conceptualisation of IPV, victims’ lived experiences, and the contribution of social support systems towards victims’ resilience. The analysis of each theme has been supported with respondents’ quotations in a way that adequately answers the research questions. Overall, this study extends the definition of IPV to eight categories. It further reveals the lived experiences of rural women, and discusses their sentiments and sympathies towards their perpetrators. The results indicate that the family remains the largest social support system in rural Ghana, and expose the limited roles of queen mothers and institutional failures when it comes to IPV matters in rural communities. The findings also show how rural victims of IPV are becoming increasingly self-conscious of their situation, and are exhibiting resilience, and increased knowledge about new coping skills to improve their own lives, that of their children, and communities. The discussion draws out points of convergences and contradictions between the results, theories and the literature review. This study provides an essential expansion to the literature on the dynamics of IPV, and offers a significant contribution to knowledge that helps to direct policy initiatives and influence social work practice in Ghana.