The Masculine Perspective

S a n a R a s h i d

M a l i k F a i s a l M o o n z a j e r

M a r y a m M u m t a z

Z e e s h a n Z a h e e r

D e c e m ber 2 0 1 2

To the victims of rural families in Pakistan

Dec 24th, 2012

Page 1 of 36

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ................................... 3

Problem Statement ............................................ 4

Research Questions (Project Objectives) ...................... 4

Hypothesis ................................................... 5

THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK ........................................ 5

KEY WORDS .................................................... 6

RESEARCH METHODOLY ........................................... 6

Type of data (primary and secondary) ....................... 6

Tools ...................................................... 6

Population/sample .......................................... 7

Procedure .................................................. 7

Measurements ............................................... 8

RATIONALE FOR RESEARCH PROJECT ............................... 8

Motivation for Research Problem ............................ 8

Importance of the Proposed Work ............................ 9

Author‟s Contribution ...................................... 9

Benefits of the Proposed Project ........................... 9

SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS ........................................ 9

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW .............................. 11

CHAPTER THREE: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ......................... 15

CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS ....................................... 18

STATISTICAL ANAYLSIS ........................................ 18

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ANAYLSIS .................................................... 20

Forms of Domestic Violence ................................ 21

Socio-Demographic Factors ................................. 21

Underlying Cause of Domestic Abuse ........................ 24

Discussion .................................................. 25

CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION .................................... 29

CHAPTER SIX: RECOMMENDATIONS ................................ 32

More Stringent Laws ......................................... 32

Educate People .............................................. 32

Reform Police Department .................................... 33

Increase Role of NGOs ....................................... 33

Increase Role of Religious Leaders .......................... 33

BIBLOGRAPHY ................................................. 35

ANNEXURE .................................................... 36

TABLE OF FIGURES

Table 1: Socio-Demographic Factors............................ 18

Table 2 : Type of abuse....................................... 19

Table 3 : Factors initiating domestic violence................ 20

Figure 1...................................................... 27

Figure 2...................................................... 28

Figure 3...................................................... 29

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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

An estimated 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault

by an intimate partner each year.85% of domestic violence

victims are women (NCADV, 2012). This violence includes a wide

range of violations of women‟s human rights. Gender-based

violence is universal, differing only in scope from one society

to the next. Domestic violence is a variety of abuse that occurs

within the home, between family members or couples. The typical

image of domestic violence involves an adult male perpetrator

and a female victim. Any violence done by any family or group

member towards another could qualify as well. A home can be one

of the most dangerous places for a woman.

Pakistan is one of the major countries that has fallen victim to

the issue of domestic violence in south Asian countries. Only in

the four major provinces of Pakistan a total number of 8548

incidents of violence against women were reported during last

four years. Among the major provinces of Pakistan, Punjab stands

on the first with total number of 5722 cases of violence against

women. (Aurat Foundation, 2010)

Pakistan has also experienced extreme types of violence against

women, which is rarely seen around the world. Honor killing of

women is one of those extreme levels of violence in Pakistan.

Out of all the different types of violence, honor killing of

women just forms 7 per cent of total cases of abuse in Pakistan.

604 cases of honor killing were recorded by the government of

Pakistan department of justice in 2009 alone. Other types of

domestic violence recorded during the same year were murder

(1384 cases), suicide (683 cases), sexual assault (274 cases),

stove burning (50 cases) and acid throwing (27 cases). (Aurat

Foundation, 2010)

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The following research was conducted to find out the main

reasons and causes of the domestic violence in Pakistani rural

families. Private and governmental organizations, human right

activists and women civil society associations have already

conducted a number of Empirical Based Researches using

governments‟ database. However, this research is different based

on two separate indications that resulted in new findings.

First, this research is based on primary sources since data was

collected by conducting semi-structured interviews. Secondly,

this report focuses on the causes rather than effects of

domestic violence. Generally most of the previous research

conducted was done so to find the reasons as the victims see

them or the effect it had on them or the common types of

domestic violence prevailing in this society. Furthermore, this

research was conducted using qualitative data however, for

illumination on domestic violence and its measurements this

report also presents the findings in a statistical form so to

clearly indicate the cause and effect relationship between the

two variables: socio-demographic factors and domestic violence.

Problem Statement

To study the reasons behind domestic violence in rural families

of Pakistan: The masculine perspective.

Research Questions (Project Objectives)

1. What are the main reasons of domestic violence in rural

areas of Pakistan?

2. Why males resort to “violence” in their marital lives

rather than any other form of punishment?

3. What forms of violence is more empiric in rural families?

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Hypothesis

H1: Socio-demographic factors in rural areas lead to domestic

violence in rural families

H0: Socio-demographic factors have no effect on domestic

violence in rural families.

THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK

Concepts

Socio-demographic factors

I. Cultural norms, values, religious beliefs, educational

level

Domestic Violence

1. Verbal abuse

a. Yelling and shouting

b. Abusive language/cursing

INDEPENDANT VARIABLE

Socio-demographic factors

DEPENDANT VARIABLE

Domestic violence

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2. Emotional abuse

a. Intrusion

a. Possession and jealousy

b. Need for control

II. Physical Abuse

a. Slapping, hitting etc.

KEY WORDS

INTRUSION: Constantly asks you where you are going, who you are

with, etc.

ISOLATION: Insists that you spend all or most of your time

together, cutting you off from friends and family.

POSSESSION AND JEALOUSY: Accuses you of flirting/having sexual

relationships with others; monitors your clothing/make-up.

NEED FOR CONTROL: Displays extreme anger when things do not go

his way; attempts to make all of your decisions.

RESEARCH METHODOLY

Type of data (primary and secondary)

The type of data used consisted of both primary and secondary

data. Primary data was extracted from the information collected

from the face to face semi-structured interviews with the help

of the questionnaires and secondary data was accumulated from

the previous researches conducted.

Tools

Semi structured interviews were conducted for this research

since domestic abuse is a sensitive topic that not many people

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like to discuss. Hence, a semi structured questionnaire was

developed in Urdu for the convenience of the respondents in the

village.

Population/sample

Males living in rural area

Males between the ages of 25 to 60 years old

Married men

Joint families and nuclear families

A sample of 15 men was chosen on a gender basis as this research

is focused on the masculine view on domestic violence in rural

families.

Procedure

The research team conducted an orientation in the rural villages

surrounding Islamabad. The village chosen was mainly due to its

patriarchal structure. The semi structured interview conducted,

obtained information on the socio-demographic reasons behind

wife abuse. The questions pertaining to domestic abuse were

first asked as a yes or no question. If the response was an

affirmative then further in-depth questions were asked from the

male respondents to identify the factors instigating wife abuse.

The interview was conducted orally for 5 to 10 minutes with all

the male respondents separately so their privacy could be

maintained.

The research was conducted by the Team of researchers, including

a facilitator (moderator), note taker, and supporting team

members. They gathered data from the first hand observation,

which was then supported by the secondary data collected via

previous studies in similar field by the civil society and human

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rights organizations working in the rural areas in the fields of

anti violence against women.

Measurements

This study was conducted to understand the causes of domestic

abuse in rural areas of Pakistan. The main objective was to

assess the reasons why men in rural areas chose to either

verbally, emotionally or physically abuse their wives. The

independent variable considered were the different socio-

demographic factors that affected the dependant variable which

was domestic abuse. These socio-demographic factors ranged from

low level of income to watching one‟s own mother being beaten as

a child. This study also focused on the prevalent norm of

domestic abuse in such rural areas and how it contributed to

such activities taking place from generation to generation. The

target sample size was 15 married men from 15 different

households in the village.

RATIONALE FOR RESEARCH PROJECT

Motivation for Research Problem

In the past recent years the extent of domestic violence

observed in rural areas of Pakistan has posed a tremendous

challenge to children and family members of the bystanders of

such violence. The only way this problem can be cured is if the

root causes of domestic violence are elicited and eradicated, so

they can be addressed as soon as possible. This is why it was

necessary that a research on such a vital topic be conducted in

Pakistan.

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Importance of the Proposed Work

Considering all the previous research related to the topic of

domestic violence, it has been concluded that there is a lack of

data and information that could explain the causes of domestic

violence from the male perspective. Formerly many human rights

and civil society organizations active in rural areas have

conducted many researches mostly concentrating female victims‟

point of view. Hence, by conducting this research the causes and

the reasons behind the domestic violence from the male

perspective will become evident.

Author’s Contribution

Regardless of going through numerous sources related to the

topic of domestic violence from the male perspective not much

could be found. Most research conducted on this issue only

focused on the victims of domestic violence. However, this

research will look at the chronic problem of domestic violence

from a different paradigm. It would further identify what

different types of domestic violence these men commit.

Benefits of the Proposed Project

This body of knowledge will add to the vast information already

existing on the causes of domestic violence in rural families.

Only this time round it will provide an insight into a “Man‟s”

head and what compels him to commit such violence.

SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS

This research paper is aimed at studying why men choose to

physically, emotionally or verbally abuse their wives. The

limitation of this research was the lack of training of the

researchers to conduct research on such a sensitive issue.

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Moreover, because of the sensitivity of the topic it was also

quite hard to get the men to respond honestly and openly about

the research topic. In fact some respondents took issue with the

questionnaire initially as they found it intrusive and

offending. Hence, the research team continuously had to reassure

the men that their names or addresses would not be published

along with their responses.

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CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

The seminal study in this area is by Khan, (n.d) who claims that

Pakistan is the victim of culturally specific forms of violence.

According to his survey the extent of domestic violence actually

originates from Pakistan‟s cultural and religious beliefs. For

generations religious leaders have tried to legitimize the abuse

of women by their husbands by quoting Quranic verses. According

to khan, the most problematic Quranic text that has been misused

is: Allah states: “As for those women on whose part you fear

disloyalty and ill-conduct admonish them first, then refuse to

share their beds, and then (as a final measure) beat them

lightly. If they heed your call then do not treat them unjustly”

(Q. 4: 34). This study emphasizes how such verses are purposely

misinterpreted by men to subdue and abuse their wives. The

common forms of domestic violence seen are sexual,

psychological, physical and emotional and even murder. For

instance, slapping, assault, yelling are quite common in

Pakistan. He further claims that though Pakistan‟s legal system

has improved for the benefit of women, many still never come

forward. However, the bigger issue observed is that unlike in

the west, perpetrators punished are still mostly neglected and

there are no rehabilitation facilities or treatment centers for

the offenders so that they can be cured from their

misconceptions or even horrible behaviors to stop future

violence.

Another similar study by Fikree, Razzak and Durocher (2005) also

deals with the reasons why men so easily become violent with

their wives. According to their study conducted over a month

using interviews, majority of the men reported committing verbal

abuse during their marital life such as using abusive language.

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Almost half the sample size claimed to have also resorted to

physical abuse such as slapping, hitting or punching. They found

that the most common trigger for such violent behavior was

arguments about children, money and the wife‟s disobedient

attitude and the mother-in-law complaints. However their study

was limited by the fact that since this is a sensitive issue it

may have lead to under-reporting of the exact extent of abuse.

Even the selection of respondents was not random but it was

convenience sampling and thus there is a chance of it resulting

in a bias towards selecting people who are willing to talk about

the issue of domestic violence. The sample size was also

considerably small. This study not only highlights the causes of

domestic violence from the male perspective but also highlights

why these men do not prefer to seek help from government

agencies or NGOs that provide help. They claimed that government

intervention into their personal matters was either unwanted or

they thought exploitative. Therefore this study emphasizes that

NGOs raise awareness and address domestic violence in a way as

to enable a positive transformation in perception of the

offenders and the victims at a more local level.

Khan; Sajid (2011) his article after administering a well

structured questionnaire to a hundred women is that one of the

major reasons of wife battery was joint family systems. Joint

family systems are the prime characteristic of rural families

and in-laws play a major role in instigating the husband to

abuse his wife for one reason or another. Mother-in-laws were

found to be the troublemaker who created such controversial

scenes that the sons were compelled to resort to domestic

violence. Other respondents claimed that it was the family

tradition and the culture of a rural society that in more ways

than one actually encouraged the husbands to beat their wives.

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The author also found that the way the husbands and society on a

whole justified this abhorring activity. As usual they did so by

the misuse of Islamic principles, claiming that Islam allows the

beating of a disobedient wife. This article studied battery

along 3 dimensions, hair pulling, blows and slapping. More than

half the sample claimed to have been a victim of all three forms

of abuse. Nearly all of them claimed that they had to go to the

hospital at one point or another because of their severe

injuries. Although the study did confirm that among all the

males, educated men were less likely to use physical abuse to

subdue their wives. He therefore suggested that people start

shifting from living in joint families to nuclear families.

Noor, (2004) also affirms in his study that Pakistan‟s

patriarchal society has played a major role in suppressing women

and making them the victims of brutal men. By conducting

numerous interviews and case studies he inferred that the

problem of domestic violence starts from the day a male child is

born in our society. From the day they are born, men are

ingrained with the idea that they are special and the head of

the family, giving them unlimited rights over the female

household. Hence according to him, since men are entrusted with

safeguarding the family name and honor they usually take drastic

measures, even such as murder to maintain their family honor by

controlling woman‟s behavior. Hence, when any female threatens

the patriarchal order men resort to physically subduing them to

maintain their authority once again. Other reasons noted pointed

towards an abused childhood faced by the males themselves, as

well as literacy and unemployment. The female behaviors that

triggers such beatings range from something as meager as not

cooking or cleaning properly to not bearing a child or

continually bearing a female child and bringing insufficient

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dowry. The type of beatings observed ranged from merely slapping

to acid throwing and gauging out the eyes. The only hope Noor

sees now is that if media plays its role along with the

government institutions to ensure that the word is spread the

offenders are brought to justice.

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CHAPTER THREE: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

This research was carried out for finding the etiological

factors leading to domestic violence. This conceptual framework

is presented for examining the relationship between the

situational and individual factors and violence. Interaction of

situational and individual is seen as being related in three

possible ways: the psychopathological, the economically

compulsive, and the systemic. Each of these models is examined

in depth comparably within this research. This research is based

on a working hypothesis which is provisionally accepted as a

basis for further research to produce a tenable theory. Domestic

violence as a social problem is very tangible to other forms of

idiosyncratic phenomena in social studies. The working

hypothesis which is used in this study are using is to diverge

the cause from the effect of domestic violence.

For studying domestic violence as a philosophical and historical

case, general causes were inductively put into the framework of

the working hypothesis which is mostly used in studies about

social issues.

I. Individual Psychopathology Theory

From this perspective, domestic violence is rooted in individual

psychopathology or dysfunctional personality structures, which

are learned and shaped by early childhood experiences such as

witnessing domestic violence or being the victim of abuse. Such

experiences as children undermines one‟s ability to trust and to

regulate emotions and results in hostile, dependent, insecure

individuals with little ability to develop healthy

relationships.(Wolfe; Jaffe, 1999, pp.134)

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The reasons behind the percentage of domestic violence within in

rural families as is seen in previous researches shows that the

main reason in number of domestic violence cases in the rural

areas individually are due to psychological issues. For

instance, they have seen their mother and sisters been beaten by

male and they have grown up this way. Other factors are the

environment they have grown up in and the norms in their

immediate community individually. In this research the focus was

on the individual factors acting as intervening factors in

domestic violence which were initiated or dependent on the

person committing the crime.

II. Economic Compulsive

The economic compulsive model suggests that some domestic

violence is caused due to economically oriented acts within a

family. Violence generally results from some factor in the

social context in which the “money” is the issue. Such factors

include the perpetrator's own nervousness or stress; the

victim's reaction; dependency of victim; the armament or the

lack of it by either offender. (Goldstein, 1985)

In this research the economic factor was one of the main

initiating causes. The subject families were suffering from

economic problems and were poverty stricken. Rural families in

Pakistan have to face many constraints while trying to maintain

a normal and regular family. Their main problem starts from

economic dependency which is also studied in this research as

the main causes of domestic violence.

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III. Systemic Violence

In the systemic model, violence is intrinsic to involvement with

any trend of life substance. Systemic violence refers to the

traditionally aggressive patterns of interaction within the

system. Domestic violence is not a new phenomenon in the

traditional society of Pakistan it has been there for a long

time and has merged into the culture and norms of this society.

Sociologists explain that any phenomenon that is continuous

within several generations becomes the system of life in the

society. (Goldstein, 1985)

This third concept of working hypothesis explains that most of

the domestic violence had been a heritage norm and culture from

generation to generation. Other factors such as economy, family

relationships, types of family or types of marriage are just the

temporary causes of the domestic violence. This study also

supports the systematic violence model, as an empirical based

study within a group of 15 target subject.

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CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS

STATISTICAL ANAYLSIS

Socio-Demographic

Factors

Number of People

Interviewed

Percentage (%)

Age of Men

18-35 years

35-55 years

55 above

1

12

2

6.66%

80%

13.33%

Education

Literate

Illiterate

0

15

0%

100%

Socio-Economic

Poor (a.)

Non-poor (b.)

15

0

100%

0%

Family structure

Joint family

Nuclear family

9

6

60%

40%

Type of marriage

Arrange

marriage

Love marriage

15

0

100%

0%

Marriage duration

< 10 years

> 10 years

0

15

0%

100%

a. Poor: wage < 7000 PKR

b. Non poor: wage > 7000 PKR

Table 1: Socio-Demographic Factors

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Type of abuse Number of People

Interviewed

Percentage (%)

Verbal abuse

Yelling/shouting

Abusive

language/cursing

15

13

100%

86.66%

Emotional abuse(c.)

Intrusion

Possession and

jealousy

Need for control

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Physical abuse

Slapping/hitting

No

slapping/hitting

11

4

73.3%

26.66%

c. No emotional abuse was reported by the men

Table 2 : Type of abuse

Factors

initiating

domestic violence

Number of People

Interviewed

Percentage (%)

Monetary Issues

Abusive

Non abusive

13

2

86.6%

13.3%

Fights over Children

Abusive

Non abusive

11

4

73.3%

26.6%

Not fulfilling

wifely duties (d.)

Abusive

Non abusive

14

1

93.3%

6.66%

Mother-in-law

Abusive

Non abusive

10

5

66.6%

33.3%

Social Norm

Tolerated by

general public

15

100%

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Saw their

mothers being

beaten

11 73.3%

d. Not preparing food on time or ironing clothes properly etc.

Table 3 : Factors initiating domestic violence

ANAYLSIS

This research was conducted to find out the reasons behind

domestic violence from the men perspective in rural families of

Pakistan. As a random sampling one of the Pakistan villages were

selected based on the accessibility and validity factors to hold

the research. The target area was selected as unite of sampling

to study the whole men within that village.

A great consensus of views was obtained from the 15 respondents

in a semi structured interview. The previews researches support

our arguments over the epistemology of domestic violence in

rural families causing by etiological factors. All previews

studies were held to find out the reasons from the victim

perspective focusing on women. On the contrary the find outs in

this research is based on the study of both victims and

perpetrators. Our research was held to identify the cause

factors in domestic violence. For that reason a literature

review was also used from the previews victim perspective to

analyze the mutual exclusive cause and effect relevancy.

(Fikree; Razzak & Durocher, 2005)

For the primary cognitions the domestic violence level were

defined into 3 abusive categories. Subsequently each category

was studied separately to find out the reasons leading and

exceeding to domestic violence.

All 15 respondents had been married at least for10 years. The

age of respondents varied from 40 to 55 years. All targeted

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groups had the same endemic background and economically poor

family structure. Most of the respondent shad field works.

Selling milk or working as laborers in the cities. Majority of

these men lived with their parents in a joint family system.

Forms of Domestic Violence

Nearly all respondents asserted that they had verbally abused

their wives at one point or another in their marital life.

Verbal abuse such as screaming and cursing were in fact

considered a part of their daily routine. Many also claimed

expressing anger by physically abusing their wives. Slapping on

the face was identified as the most common physical abuse.

According to these respondents this was not a daily occurrence

but rather on a weekly or monthly basis. None claimed to have

hit them with any other foreign object or to the point where the

wives had to be hospitalized. Furthermore, none claimed to have

ever emotionally abused their wives (intervention, jealousy

etc.) as they were barely home for most of the day or even weeks

on end.

Socio-Demographic Factors

The major socio-demographic factor that played an essential role

in triggering domestic abuse was the respondents‟ low level of

income and the strain to put on their daily lives (86.6%). They

claimed that it was not their wives attitude or actions so much

that initiated the fights but rather their own high level of

stress due to the shortage of money. They were constantly under

pressure to provide income to their families which they had an

extremely hard time earning. Basically their extreme level of

poverty and their lack of control to change it constantly put

them on edges that were itching for a fight when they returned

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home after a long and laborious day. This was one of the main

reasons why these respondents claimed that they actually hit

their wives. They reported to have been so utterly frustrated by

their financial situation that even a little noise or

disturbance would send them into a maddening frenzy. Apparently

their fury would not abate till they had hit something and that

something was usually their wife.

However others did claim that they lost their temper mostly on

days when they came home and their wives had not prepared the

food the “right” way or had not ironed their clothes “perfectly”

enough. Majority claimed (93.3%) to just verbally abuse their

wives when their needs were not properly met. They argued that

it was a wife‟s religious and marital duty to serve her husband

in the best way possible. Hence, even a small slip in the duties

that a Pakistani wife is supposed to perform turned out to be

major trigger for domestic abuse. They reported that after

coming home tired from a whole day of labor, all they wanted was

for everything to be perfect, which usually led to the verbal

brawls.

Another factor that instigated physical abuse quite a lot was

the fights that broke out over the children. Nearly all

respondents (73.3%) claimed that they had considerable issues

with the way their wives were raising their children. For

instance, some of the wives were not sending their children to

school when their fathers were away whereas others were

constantly abusing their children due to their own frustrations.

When these men returned home and found out about such activities

which had occurred during the day, they claimed to have resorted

to slapping and hitting their wives to ensure that their

children were taken care of properly in the future.

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As is the case in many South Asian and African countries, even

in Pakistan the mother-in-law plays a major role in the lives of

their son and daughter-in-law. Since most of the men lived in a

joint family system, this was also an important contributing

factor to domestic violence. According to the respondents, their

mothers‟ usually commanded them to verbally and physical abuse

their wives when they were not pleased with their daughter-in-

law attitude. They stated that even on the days they were happy

with the attitude of their wives, their mothers usually weren‟t.

Hence, they were ordered by their mothers to set their wives

straight by physically abusing them since their wives “deserved”

such punishment. However, most of the respondents (66.6%)

claimed that they tried to just verbally abuse their spouse by

screaming and shouting at them to appease their mothers.

Lack of any formal education (Table 1: Socio-Demographic Factors)

also worsened matters as majority of these men were not literate

enough to realize that abusing their wives was not “okay”. They

were completely ignorant of women rights and so treated as their

wives as their servant or punching bag. They had absolutely no

understanding of how it was an abomination morally, ethically

and religiously to abuse females, in fact for that matter anyone

weaker than oneself.

Another major contributing factor was the psychological make-up

of these men, constructed via their childhood experiences. Most

(73.3%) of these men claimed that had grown up in a home where

their mother had been the victim of domestic abuse as well. They

went as far as to say that since they had seen such treatment of

their mothers it was not that big a deal. They basically seemed

immune to such violence. These men thought it was quite “normal”

for a man such as the husband or father to verbally or

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physically abuse his woman since it was their job to put these

women straight.

Underlying Cause of Domestic Abuse

After conducting these interviews it was deliberated that the

underlying cause of why majority of the men in the rural areas

resorted to domestic abuse rather than any other means of

reaching an understanding with their wives was due to the

prevalent Cultural Norm of domestic abuse in Pakistan as is

proven by previous researches as well (Domestic violence against

women and girls, 2000). All these respondents reported that it

was “okay” to hit or scream at their wives if they weren‟t

following their orders. They didn‟t see the harm in a little

“slapping”, “hitting” or “cursing”. They claimed that their

fathers had done it, their neighbors, brothers, friends and

majority of the villagers did it. Their illiteracy further

worsened matters.

Hence, regardless of the various reasons and justifications that

these men gave in order to defend their abusive actions, the

real reason why they actually abused their spouse was due to

this norm of domestic abuse seen by these very men and women

since generations in the rural areas of Pakistan. It can be

argued that poverty exists in other areas of the world too.

Fights over children and mother-in-laws break out all across the

globe but people in different countries react differently to

these issues due to their cultural norms (Domestic violence

against women and girls, 2000). These men have become immune to

the whole issue of violence and rather than abhorring it they

actually reinforce it in their younger generations as well.

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Hence, H1 is accepted as the research conducted proved that

Socio-demographic factors in rural areas lead to domestic

violence in rural families of Pakistan

Discussion

Domestic violence is a multidimensional disputable and debatable

discourse. Fundamentally, the study of this phenomenon as a

general basis differs, with few common characteristics. The

reasons and causes of abuse are usually different due to the

differing demographic and autochthonous factors. Different

layouts and design for the study of domestic violence have been

introduced based on philosophic and ethologic factors, which is

very different form of study in the third world countries. Most

primary resources related to domestic violence in the research

centers suggest that some psychiatric factors such as Alcohol

and other chemical substances may contribute to violent

behavior.

The situational and individual study conducted for this research

project was done so in a Pakistani village, focusing on the male

perspective on the most common causes of the domestic violence.

These factors turned out to be psychological, economic and

systematic factors existing in the society of Pakistan. Due to

traditional sensitivity of the issue and difficulty to discuss

women issues domestic violence has mostly been studied from the

women perspective. Besides, the finding of such research

focusing on the reasons usually lead to activism. The findings

of this research shows that major causes of the violence in

Pakistan rural families are men based families, extended or

joint family, protective influence role of men as shelter for

women, low economic status, culture, customs, patriarchic

culture within the families, inferior and superior roles of male

Dec 24th, 2012

Page 26 of 36

and female during the childhood and finally other attributes

such as considering domestic abuse as a personal matter. The

results of this study are supported by the previous researches

conducted to study the causes of the domestic violence in

Pakistan.

80% of the target sample was aged from 35years to 55 years old

(middle aged men). All of them were illiterate and had a low

economic status. These three factors helped in narrowing down

the characteristics of the sample, in turn making it easier to

study all the dimensions related to domestic violence and find

out which of these factors mostly caused violence in rural

families. A study in urban families may easily ignore some of

these factors which might have caused the violence in this

village. Three other factors in this study were identified as

indicators of cognition such as structure of family, extended or

nuclear, and marriage duration.

60% of the subjects had an extended family structure, all of had

had an arrange marriage and all had been married for more than

10 years. Based on laboratory find outs and psychological

studies, these three factors have been known to play an

important role in decision making process by these men. Extended

family structures included other casual factors and initiatives

of violence whereas the arrange marriage also pushed some other

factors in engendering violence such as lack of any emotional

attachment between the couples. Finally, the marriage duration

also clearly identified the scope and cycle of de-structuring of

the spousal relationship after a long period of living together.

These six factors have been studied within many traditional and

developing societies; the existence of each of them in the

foundation of Pakistani society and within the structure of

family is considered as the instigator of domestic violence.

Dec 24th, 2012

Page 27 of 36

Comparative studies have been held in India, Nepal, Afghanistan

and other south Asian countries.

Furthermore, the findings identified that a 100 percent of the

males had gotten used to expressing their anger by yelling and

shouting on their wives. Out of all the respondents, 86.66

percent of them used abusive language and cursing besides

shouting and yelling. Abusive language was the second most

common form of abuse pointing resulting in the violence going

from soft violence to hardcore. Finally 73.3 percent of the men

had resorted to physical violence, slapping and hitting the

women whereas, 26.66% of the men did not use physical violence.

This occurred either because the victim left the place before

the husband got a chance to initiate the physical abuse or the

extended family structure played its role in destabilizing and

hindering any hardcore violence. In fact the extended family

structure was also studied as one of the causes of initiatives

of soft violence. However, it proved to be a factor in stopping

the process from going from soft violence to hardcore violence.

Figure 1

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Yelling & Shouting Abusive language/Cursing slapping

Series1 Series2

Dec 24th, 2012

Page 28 of 36

The Error! Reference source not found. above, shows that all men

had tendency toward the first level of violence such as shouting

and yelling, however, when studying the second form of abuse

(abusive language), it proved to be slightly less common

resulting in less than 90 percent. As for physical abuse such as

hitting, the percentage of men decreased to less than 75

percent.

Error! Reference source not found. on the other hand depicts the

psychological factors found, that proved to be stronger

initiatives of domestic violence compared to other risk factors.

Most of the perpetrators resorted to violence because they had

seen their mothers and other female family members being beaten.

All respondents claimed that it was a normal thing to beat your

wife and should be considered part of regular life. Though it is

not evident in Error! Reference source not found., the

psychological factors were studied as the effect the causal

factors of domestic abuse. Moreover, the mother-in-law also

52%

48%

Saw their mothers being beaten Mother-in-law

Figure 2

Dec 24th, 2012

Page 29 of 36

39%

33%

28%

0% 0%

Yelling & Shouting Abusive language/Cursing slapping

proved to be the cause of less than half of all the violence

that happened in these rural families.

Finally, as is seen in the last Figure 3, it was found that each

of the factors mentioned initiated this proportion of domestic

violence. Lack of fulfilling wifely duty followed by monetary

issues, fights over children and seeing their own mother being

beaten the and

finally the

mother in law,

all played

their role in

perpetuating

so much

domestic

abuse.

Figure 3

Dec 24th, 2012

Page 30 of 36

CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION

Domestic violence has been widespread in Pakistan at an alarming

rate since its inception in 1947, as it one of the least legally

addressed issues. Women are victimized by being subjected to

physical and verbal abuse in their home by husbands for one

reason or another. The most common risk factors associated with

domestic violence in rural areas, according to this research,

are the socio-demographic factors.

The most imminent socio-demographic factor was the low economic

status of people living in rural areas, which resulted in

enormous amount of stress for the husbands thereby setting the

stage for violence. This finding corroborated with the economic

compulsive working hypothesis as well. Moreover, lack of

education, bitter mother-in-laws and even joint family systems

played its role in reinforcing such abusive activity.

However, in some cases the men themselves were the main cause as

they thought it a normal response to a wife‟s disobedience, such

as not cooking well or not taking care of children as was

dictated by them. Adding more fuel to fire was the prevalent

norm of domestic abuse in the whole village where the study was

conducted. The men had grown up in such a environment, as the

psychological model suggests, that the men deemed it “normal”

Dec 24th, 2012

Page 31 of 36

for males to abuse their women. These men had seen their female

family members as the victims and went about creating more

because they were desensitized to the whole issue.

Hence, domestic violence against women continues to be a growing

concern in rural areas of Pakistan without and positive changes

seen so far. It more or less affects all spheres of their female

lives and continues to undermine their importance in society as

equal partners of men and as individuals too. Much of this

violence happens to women primarily because they are women.

However what Pakistan government refuses to see is how it

carries a great cost not only to individuals who experience it

but also to society as a whole since the future children of this

very nation either fall victim to this issue or become the

perpetrators of it, thereby reinforcing it continually.

Dec 24th, 2012

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CHAPTER SIX: RECOMMENDATIONS

In light of the above conclusion, it is necessary to discuss the

possible strategies to counter and prevent the threats faced by

women of Pakistan. The following recommendations are:

More Stringent Laws

Though acid control and prevention bill was recently passed, it

only specifies one type of extreme physical violence. Pakistan

needs more specific and strict laws concerning domestic violence

that consider hitting, slapping harassment etc. as a crime

punishable by law as well. So far the police and judges often

treat domestic violence as a private or family matter or an

issue for civil courts, rather than criminal courts. Though a

domestic violence bill was passed unanimously by the parliament

and senate in 2009, Pakistan‟s president still needs to sign it

into legislation.

Educate People

Educate people on gender equality and non-violent behavior at a

very early stage via schools and public campaigns. It should be

initiated by using resources like nurses, doctors and

Dec 24th, 2012

Page 33 of 36

psychologists, and even teachers working in government agencies

and NGOs. One such intervention was called programme-H campaign

ongoing in India, Tanzania, Croatia and Brazil. Programme-H

addresses men‟s violent behavior and tries to change the

attitudes and behavior of individual men through educational

responses that give men information, skills and space to better

understand how gender shapes their own lives and relationships

so that they refrain from violent behavior in the future.

(Department for international development, 2012, pp.17; Journal

of Pakistan Medical Association, 2007)

Reform Police Department

The Police department always plays a major role in tackling

domestic violence in any country however it is quite lacking in

Pakistan. The shortcomings of the police department are the

major reason why women cannot get justice in this country.

Therefore, the police need to be immediately sensitized to treat

domestic violence cases as seriously as any other crime in this

country. The number of Women police stations should also be

increased and both male/female police stations should be

provided special training to handle domestic violence cases.

There should also be a 24 hour presence of a nurse or doctor in

the police department to facilitate a pleasant environment for

the victims. (Babur, 2007, pp.62; Journal of Pakistan Medical

Association, 2007)

Increase Role of NGOs

To further minimize the high incidence of violence against women

NGOs need to play a pivotal role. They should focus on “rights

based programmes” that deals with establishing crisis shelters,

community mobilization, counseling, providing legal aid, and

Dec 24th, 2012

Page 34 of 36

providing research and publications regarding violence against

women to the concerned state departments to ensure change.

(Kumar, 2010)

Increase Role of Religious Leaders

Religion plays a major role in the lives of people living in

rural areas. The religious leaders and scholars have easy access

to the grass-roots of society. Hence, religious scholars should

be invited to discuss the problems related to women's rights in

Mosques and Madrassas and religious institutions of other faiths

as well. These clerics and religious scholars can guide people

towards seeing the implications of the practice of the violence

of women in a society and inform them of where their wives

obligations to them end. These religious leaders can launch an

effective campaign against domestic violence because people in

rural areas are mostly uneducated and are deeply influenced by

religion. These religious clerics can change the traditional

mindset of people, more so than women‟s rights organizations

because millions of people are already devotees of their

ideology. (Babur, 2007, pp.69)

Hence via the means mentioned above the occurrence of domestic

violence in rural areas of Pakistan can be brought to an end

effectively.

Dec 24th, 2012

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