Report: Gender-Based Violence Still Rampant Among Kenyan Married People

http://www.voanews.com/content/report-gender-based-violence-still-rampant-among-kenyan-married-people/2714252.html

Recently, research from Kenya’s government has shown that spousal battery is the most common form of gender-based violence in the country. The National Crime Research Center reported that 38 percent of females and 20 percent of males in Kenya have experienced some form of gender-based violence. Studies show that women are more vulnerable to forms of gender-based violence, depending upon their marital status. Additionally, if you are not the first wife of a male, the chances of violence being directed towards the female is at an even higher rate. Efforts have been made to understand how demographic factors have a relationship with gender-based violence.

I believe that this is an important focus when looking at gender-based violence.  This relates to our current focus of gender-based violence in the context of domestic abuse. I believe that it is important to take a cultural perspective when looking at intervention options. It is difficult to form strategies due to how domestic abuse is perceived in diverse cultures, and the different cultural norms around the world.

Question: Do you guys believe that fighting to end cultural domestic violence is an aspect that can be ended from outside of the culture? Or does cultural domestic violence need to be ended within the culture? It seems as though the organizations that are having the biggest impact are organizations within the culture. However, this may be due to the awareness of the organization to that need; whereas, we may not be as aware of the issue.