Pathways to healing from intimate partner violence: Voices of young women in the Western Cape

Abstract

Research shows that there is a process of surviving after being violated by an intimate partner. However, it does not adequately address the pathways to healing and recovery from intimate partner violence (IPV). A research gap regarding the healing process after IPV exists; and, this research aims to contribute towards bridging this gap by exploring women’s recovery and healing process after experiencing IPV. Therefore, this research envisages contributing towards this gap by foregrounding the voices of women’s experiences and sharing insights on how women overcame the IPV experience and reconstructed their lives thereafter. The focus of the study was on women in the Western Cape between the ages of 20 and 45 years. A qualitative feminist approach was adopted to gain insight and understand participants’ subjective views and experiences. The feminist standpoint theory was adopted as a theoretical framework, since it centralises the significance of women’s voices, in how they theorise and make sense of the world. I utilised snowball sampling to select participants from my social circles around Cape Town. Five women were identified and semi structured interviews were conducted with them and a qualitative thematic analysis was used for analysis.