Interrogating the resilience of women affected by violence

Abstract

Violence against women is a serious health and social problem for women not just in South Africa but across the globe. Violence renders women vulnerable and in most cases seeks to disempower them. However, most women, once out of the violent situation are able to overcome their adversity. Using Ungar‘s Social Ecology of Resilience Theory as a framework, this paper demonstrates the journey of women affected by violence to overcome their adversity. It does this through interviews with four women temporarily housed in a “shelter” and three women social workers at the shelter - a non-governmental organisation (NGO). Views, positioning the women‘s coping strategies in the face of adversity, were solicited from the women and the social workers. The face-to-face interviews through which data was generated was qualitative in nature. Findings show that external resources in the social ecologies of the women, community, state and families, are facilitating resilience in sexually and physically violated women.