Men, Women and Violence

Men, women and Violence is a selection of papers resulting from the 1997 CODESRIA Gender Institute that gathered researchers and resource persons from Benin, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan, Ghana and the United States.

The collection is a contribution to the continuing debate on gender-based violence, with case studies form West and East Africa. The contributors highlight how universal attitudes of male dominance and patriarchy can literally engender a culture of violence in which women and children are the victims. Being often domestic in nature and in the private domain, acts of violence and aggression are seldom reported, leaving the victim with no redress – except to ‘suffer in silence’ or retaliate with grave consequences.

Patriarchal attitudes and the gender bias that underpin violent acts will not be changed in a day or without resistance. Yet a start is being made, and publication of case study research like the present volume is vital if the issue of gender violence is to be taken out of the realm of privacy and silence and into public policy.