Help Seeking Experiences of Female Victims of Intimate Partner Violence: Legal and Social Protections

Abstract

This article seeks to bring out the lived experiences of women in seeking help
from the formal and informal help providers in two study sites. It mainly aims to
explore the prevailing norms, cultural practices and perceptions about intimate
partner violence (IPV) in the study sites through a qualitative study. It provides
insightful information about the challenges victims of IPV face in pursuing redress.
This paper reveals that most victims of IPV often seek help from informal help
providers. In these situations, their definition of victimhood is not recognized by the
society y and large. The society rather seeks to protect the integrity of the family by
advising the victims to tolerate the violence. The few women who pursued formal
avenues are not provided with a comprehensive remedy. Starting from the way they
are treated by the police up to final judicial decisions, their peculiar situation as
victims is not given the necessary consideration. This article relying on the lived
experiences of female victims of IPV shows the plight of women in seeking help and
recommends measures that should be taken to improve the assistance victims of
IPV receive from the formal and informal help providers