Fears of “witch-craft” attacks from their husbands or in-laws are preventing many African women in abusive relationships from seeking help, a new report has claimed. The report on domestic violence prepared by AkiDwA, the African Women’s Network, which is due to be published early next year, compiles data collected from more than a hundred respondents across Ireland as well as numerous women’s refuges and other service providers.
Domestic violence is ‘acceptable discipline’ in African culture - report
By Viktor Posudnevsky
Fears of “witch-craft” attacks from their husbands or in-laws are preventing many African women in abusive relationships from seeking help, a new report has claimed.
The report on domestic violence prepared by AkiDwA, the African Women’s Network, which is due to be published early next year, compiles data collected from more than a hundred respondents across Ireland as well as numerous women’s refuges and other service providers.
Among other things, the report concludes that migrant women are more susceptible to domestic violence because they are dependent on their husbands for immigration status.
“Some women stay in an abusive relationship because they have no other choice,” commented Nobuhle Ncube, author of the report. “They cannot break up with their partner because in that case they will have to leave the country. So they decide to stay and wait until they can apply for residency on an individual basis.”
In a number of cases partners used scare tactics to keep the woman in a relationship. “Some threaten to report the woman to the immigration service,” said Ncube, referring to case studies she worked on for the report. “Others have threatened that the woman’s family at home would be in trouble if she talks to the gardai.” In most of these cases the woman suffered physical abuse, claimed Ncube.
The report also shows that superstition is employed as a form of intimidation. “Some African women believe in witchcraft, and they may think the husband or the husband’s family will place a spell on them if they act against them,” said Ncube. “Others believe they will be regarded as traitors by their own community if they report on their abusive partner.”
According to Ncube, domestic violence is “an acceptable form of discipline” in many African cultures. African women also face more barriers as they try to deal with their abusive partners.
Many African women can only speak about their domestic problems freely with the pastor at their local African church. “The pastor usually tells them to pray and wait for the husband to change, which does not really solve the problem,” said Ncube.
The report states that all women’s refuges polled noted an increase in African women coming in. It concludes with a range of recommendations for service providers and proposes an open forum which would address the various challenges that come up as a result of dealing with an ethnically diverse client base.
Ncube noted: “Domestic violence happens across the board and not just to African women. The vast majority of women in refuges are Irish. And even men suffer from abuse in relationships.
“Four African men called me while I was conducting my research: two of them said they were being beaten up by their wives and two complained about verbal abuse. I would like to stress though that I only deal with African women experiencing domestic violence”.
Ncube urged African women in Ireland who are caught in an abusive relationship to contact AkiDwA on 01 8148582.
