Legal aid service interventions and women empowerment against violence in Morogoro Rural and Kongwa Districts, Tanzania
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Date
2017
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Sokoine University of Agriculture
Abstract
Legal Aid Services (LAS) providers have paid much attention to advocating women’s
human right issues. Yet, violation of women rights manifested in various forms of Gender
Based Violence (GBV) against Women is still rampant. Experience shows that, in most
cases, victims remain silent and therefore perpetrators of violence are not reported to
formal or informal institutions for legal actions. Since most of the perpetrators are men,
violation of women rights is one of the most direct expressions of the power imbalance
between men and women. Therefore, women empowerment through LAS interventions is
believed to be a crucial strategy for tackling the existing problem of GBV against women.
However, information on whether LAS interventions have any influence on women
empowerment and attitudes towards GBV against women in Tanzania is scantily
discussed. This study was conducted in Morogoro Rural and Kongwa districts to address
knowledge gap. The study specifically: (i) assessed common forms of GBV against
women practised in the study areas; (ii) analysed actions taken by women victims of
violence against perpetrators of GBV against women; (iii) examined women's attitude
towards GBV against women with regard to their involvement in LAS interventions; and
(iv) analysed determinants of women's empowerment in relation to LAS interventions.
A cross-section research design was adopted, involving 240 women of equally sampled
beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of LAS interventions. Both qualitative and quantitative
data were collected. Qualitative data were collected through Focus Group Discussions
(FGDs) and Key Informants Interviews (KIIs). Quantitative data were collected by using a
household questionnaire. Content analysis approach was used to analyze qualitative data,
while descriptive statistical analysis, index scales, Composite Empowerment Index (CEI),
Mann Whitney U test and ordinal logistic regression were used to analyse quantitative
data. The findings of the study show that women, both beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries
of LAS interventions, experienced certain levels of violence, regardless of their
involvement in LAS interventions. Wife battering, depriving women of acquiring basic
necessities, early marriage and marital rape were the most common forms of GBV against
women practised in Morogoro Rural and Kongwa districts. There were a number of
actions taken against perpetrators of GBV against women by reporting to formal or
informal justice system. However, the actions were statistically significant different
between LAS beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries (U = 2837, Z = -4.730, p < 0.001). With
respect to attitude towards GBV against women, slightly more than half (57.1%) of
women had a negative attitude while 35.4% had a positive attitude. Though, non
beneficiaries were more likely to be upholders of positive attitude towards GBV against
women compared to beneficiaries of LAS interventions. There was a strong effect
between: women involvement in LAS interventions (Exp = -3.172, Wald = 26.27,
p < 0.001); and ethnic background (Exp = -1.62, Wald = 19.82, < 0.001) on of women’s
attitude towards GBV. With respect to levels of empowerment, results showed that
women in the study areas were categorised in medium level of empowerment.
Comparatively, beneficiaries of LAS interventions were found to be more empowered
than non-beneficiaries. Ordinal logistic regression analysis shows that marital status and
involvement of women in LAS interventions have stronger influence on women’s
empowerment. It is concluded that women still experienced various forms of GBV against
women including those involved in LAS interventions. However, some significant
differences were found between beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries in the actions taken
against perpetrators of violence, attitudes towards GBV against women and their levels of
empowerment; this has an implication on changing the odds of GBV happening against
women. Therefore, it is recommended that the government and LAS stakeholders should
expand LAS interventions to other villages where there are no LASs, so as to raise
awareness about women’s human rights education to communities.
Description
PhD Thesis
Keywords
Women empowerment, Morogoro Rural, Kongwa Districts, Tanzania, Legal Aid Services, Women rights, Gender Based Violence