The perspectives of victims of domestic violence and abuse: narratives from members of Masimanyane women’s support centre in East London, Eastern Cape Province, Resa.

Domestic violence and abuse also known as Gender-based violence (GBV) including rape, mutilation, murder and sexual abuse, is a profound health problem for women across the globe. Although domestic violence and sexual abuse is a significant cause of female morbidity and mortality, it is almost never seen as a public health issue. Domestic violence and abuse can happen to anyone of any race, age, sexual orientation, religion or gender. This study draws attention on exploring victim’s narrative perspectives on domestic violence and abuse against women in East London at Masimanyane Women’s Support Centre (MWSC) in Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The study employed a qualitative research approach, with In-Depth Interviews (IDI), Focus Group Discussions (FDGs), and review of related literature for data collection. The findings of this study were based only from participants who were victims of domestic violence and abuse, as some of the views were stated by visitors. This resulted in some situations where the witnesses of domestic violence and abuse, just like victims themselves did not want to report their incidents. Women may not reveal that they are suffering from domestic violence and abuse, as they fear of the image that they may be portraying about themselves and their family as a whole like social pressure and stigma of defamation. Although domestic abuse and violence increases all the time women are encouraged to open up on such cases about abuse. Real change in these cases can only be brought by changing the mind-set of society through education and better law enforcement. This study was anchored by both the Social Learning Theory and Feminist Theory. Upon recommendations, this study has seen that there should be government interventions and programs that help victims of domestic violence and abuse and also to work in a way of preventing the domestic violence and abuse