Using African Indigenous Knowledge Pathways to Understand and Dismantle Gender-based Violence
Summary
– Mulovhedzi SA, Full Professor in Early Childhood Education, Faculty of Humanities Social Sciences and Education (HOD), University of Venda, Thohoyandou
The book mainly focuses on GBV as applicable to women. That does not purport to dispute that there are pockets of incidents where men are also victims of GBV. The fact remains, however, that the prevalence of this scourge is mostly among women, considering that the majority of women are the victims and survivors of GBV on a daily basis, and this bears a scholarly justifi cation of GBV among women. The book contends that Eurocentric approaches in the context of gender related issues in a society somehow have had a contributory role, with some African core values aimed at building and strengthening society being undermined in the process. This book strives to establish a critical argument and debate using African philosophies to interpret the realities and experiences of occurrences of GBV in order to end it among African communities.
Excerpt
Table Of Contents
- Cover
- Epigraph
- Half Title
- Title
- Copyright
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- Foreword
- Chapter 1: The African Perspective of Gender-Based Violence: An Introduction (Mfundo Mandla Masuku)
- Chapter 2: Gender-Based Violence from an African Feminism Perspective (Nomusa Mlondo)
- Chapter 3: Theorising Gender-Based Violence in South Africa: African Feminisms (Tendayi Garutsa)
- Chapter 4: The Role of Social Norms in the Perpetration of Gender-Based Violence Against Women: A Systematic Review (Nonhle Tracey Sibisi, Nomakhosi Nomathemba Sibisi, Simangele Mkhize)
- Chapter 5: Understanding the Intersection of Cultural Practices, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, and Gender-Based Violence in South Africa (Londeka Ngubane, Thembelihle Brenda Makhanya, Gladys Nkareng Klaas-Makolomakwe)
- Chapter 6: Exploring the Shadows of Gender-Based Violence Against Women and Children in South Africa and the Role of Afrocentric Intervention: A Narrative Literature Review (Thembelihle Brenda Makhanya, Gladys Nkareng Klaas-Makolomakwe, Londeka Ngubane)
- Chapter 7: Shaping Cultural Norms: The Role of Restorative Justice in Fighting Gender-Based Violence (Angeline Sibongile Ngcobo, Ernest Nene Khalema, Emmanuel Thamsanqa Mncube)
- Chapter 8: The Implications of Gender-Based Violence on Access to Land for Rural Women’s Empowerment in Patrilineal Societies in Tanzania (Willy Maliganya, Christian Mubofu, Angela M. Jesse)
- Chapter 9: Gender-Based Violence and Sustainable Livelihood Through Income-Generating Projects: A Case of Chitungwiza District, Zimbabwe (Jonathan Mrewa)
- Chapter 10: Gender-Based Violence: A Call to Embrace Afrocentric Mechanisms and Collaborate with Traditional Leaders to Combat the Abuse of Women (Gladys Nkareng Klaas-Makolomakwe, Thembelihle Brenda Makhanya)
- Chapter 11: ‘I Blame Myself because I Used my Power Over a Woman’: Views of Sex Offenders on Gender-Based Violence in Selected Correctional Centres in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (Oliver Mtapuri, Mfundo Mandla Masuku, Sijuwade Adedayo Ogunsola)
- Chapter 12: Management of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in Schools: Implications for Women’s Empowerment and Training in Nigeria (Azeez Babatunde Adebakin, Adesoji Emmanuel Ayanlowo)
- Chapter 13: Interpreting the Gender-Based Violence Pandemic in Institutions of Higher Learning Using an African Feminist Perspective (Mandisa S. Makhaye)
- Chapter 14: Examining the Ecumenical Model of Fighting Gender-Based Violence in Zimbabwe with Special Focus on 16 Days of Activism (Tinashe Gumbo)
- Notes on Contributors
- Index
This edited book makes a valuable and timely contribution to contemporary scholarship on Gender-Based Violence (GBV). It provides insightful perspectives and rigorous analysis on the concept of GBV using African epistemologies such as Afrocentricity, Ubuntu, and African Indigenous Knowledge Systems that are embedded in the moral value systems of Africa. The editors successfully brought together diverse viewpoints that not only deepen academic understanding but also offer practical relevance for understanding and interpreting the realities and experiences of GBV in African communities.
This book, “Using African Indigenous Knowledge Pathways to Understand and Dismantle Gender-Based Violence” offers a compelling and timely intervention. It offers transformative insights for scholars, practitioners, and communities seeking culturally grounded strategies to confront and dismantle gender-based violence. I endorse this book for urgent publication.
Contents
Chapter 1 The African Perspective of Gender-Based Violence: An Introduction
Mfundo Mandla Masuku
Chapter 2 Gender-Based Violence from an African Feminism Perspective
Nomusa Mlondo
Chapter 3 Theorising Gender-Based Violence in South Africa: African Feminisms
Tendayi Garutsa
-
Nonhle Tracey Sibisi, Nomakhosi Nomathemba Sibisi, Simangele Mkhize
-
Londeka Ngubane, Thembelihle Brenda Makhanya, Gladys Nkareng Klaas-Makolomakwe
-
Thembelihle Brenda Makhanya, Gladys Nkareng Klaas-Makolomakwe, Londeka Ngubane
Chapter 7 Shaping Cultural Norms: The Role of Restorative Justice in Fighting Gender-Based Violence
Angeline Sibongile Ngcobo, Ernest Nene Khalema, Emmanuel Thamsanqa Mncube
-
Willy Maliganya, Christian Mubofu, Angela M. Jesse
-
Jonathan Mrewa
-
Gladys Nkareng Klaas-Makolomakwe, Thembelihle Brenda Makhanya
-
Oliver Mtapuri, Mfundo Mandla Masuku, Sijuwade Adedayo Ogunsola
-
Azeez Babatunde Adebakin, Adesoji Emmanuel Ayanlowo
-
Mandisa S. Makhaye
-
Tinashe Gumbo
Figures
Chapter 7: Shaping Cultural Norms: The Role of Restorative Justice in Fighting Gender-Based Violence
Chapter 11: ‘I Blame Myself because I Used my Power Over a Woman’: Views of Sex Offenders on Gender-Based Violence in Selected Correctional Centres in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Tables
Chapter 4: Role of Social Norms in the Perpetration of Gender-Based Violence Against Women: A Systematic Review
Chapter 8: The Implication of Gender-Based Violence on Access to Land for Rural Women’s Empowerment in Patrilineal Societies in Tanzania
Table 1. Strategies to address GBV in women’s access to land
Table 2. The implications of GBV on women in accessing and land ownership
Table 3. Factors promoting GBV regarding women’s access to land
Chapter 12: Management of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in Schools: Implications for Women’s Empowerment and Training in Nigeria
Foreword
It is with profound humility and a deep sense of cultural responsibility that I write this foreword for a body of work that speaks to the very heartbeat of our communities. As an African woman and a scholar of our rich cultural heritage, I recognise the immense power carried by narratives that honour both our pain and resilience. I introduce this important contribution to the growing body of African scholarship on gender-based violence. I wish to honour the scholars whose careful research, cultural sensitivity, and intellectual courage have shaped this remarkable work.
This book emerges at a time when our communities are asking difficult questions about the role of culture, history, and social norms in both sustaining and challenging gender–based harm. What makes this collection so compelling is the way its authors refuse easy answers. Instead, they invite us into a thoughtful dialogue –one grounded in African philosophies, indigenous knowledge systems, and lived experiences across the continent.
I am particularly moved by how the authors navigate culture with honesty and integrity. They neither romanticise nor condemn wholesale. Rather, they illuminate the nuance, showing where tradition has been misinterpreted, where it can be reclaimed for healing, and where it must be courageously transformed. I applaud the integration of Ubuntu Feminism, African Indigenous Knowledge Systems, restorative justice, and community-centred approaches.
What stands out throughout this book is the authors’ commitment to amplifying voices that are often unheard – survivors, rural women, traditional leaders striving towards change, and communities wrestling with inherited systems. They place African women at the centre of analysis and affirm their agency, insights, and resilience.
The strength of this work lies not only in its academic rigour, but also in its ethical posture. The authors write with compassion, humility, and a deep awareness of the pain that gives rise to their inquiry. Their contributions challenge us to think beyond policy and legislation, urging us to imagine solutions that honour culture while upholding justice, healing, and equality.
I offer this foreword as a gesture of gratitude to the authors for their dedication and to the communities whose experiences have shaped the knowledge within these pages. May this book travel far, opening conversations, informing practice, and inspiring renewed commitment to ending gender-based violence in our homes, institutions, and societies.
It is my hope that readers will approach this text not only as scholarship but as a guide, an invitation, and a call to collective transformation. May this work echo across generations, shaping a future where African women and girls live not in fear, but in full freedom.
Injobo ithungelwa ebandla – your contribution is both necessary and deeply appreciated
Prof. Gugu Mazibuko
University of Johannesburg
Chapter 1 The African Perspective of Gender-Based Violence: An Introduction
Mfundo Mandla Masuku
1. Introduction
Gender-based violence (GBV) is a complex issue influenced by societal norms and expectations, leading to other forms of violence and discrimination. Cooper et al. (2013) study defines gender-based violence (GBV) as violence against individuals or groups based on gender norms, including economic, intimate partner, sexual, and traditional practices. The study highlights that GBV targets individuals based on their perceived failure to conform to societal gender norms. Gender-based violence (GBV) is a complex issue that is influenced by societal norms and expectations, leading to various forms of violence and discrimination (Cooper et al., 2013). As highlighted by Wanjiru (2021), GBV is deeply rooted in discriminatory cultural beliefs and attitudes that perpetuate inequality and powerlessness, particularly against women and girls. Yadav & Horn (2021) identify a continuum of violence, incorporating gender discrimination, domestic violence, sexual violence, conflict-related violence, wartime rape, battering and marital rape, confinement, dowry burnings, honour killings, genital mutilation, military rape, sequestration, prostitution, and sexualised torture in war (Yadav & Horn, 2021). At the same time, Wanjiru (2021) identifies several forms of GBV, including sexual violence, physical violence, mental violence, economic harm, intimate partner violence, child marriage, female genital mutilation, honour crimes, threats of violence, and coercion and manipulation.
The normalisation of GBV highlights the need for trauma-informed education to tackle the deep patriarchal structure and unlearning violence (Lange & Young, 2019). GBV can be categorised into interpersonal and structural/institutional violence, with structural inequalities and institutional discrimination perpetuating gender-based subordination (Herbert, 2014). Interpersonal violence includes individual acts of violence, such as physical, sexual, psychological, or economic harm, while structural/institutional violence encompasses systemic inequalities and institutional discrimination that perpetuate gender-based subordination (Herbert, 2014). These forms of violence are mutually reinforcing, creating an environment where GBV is both perpetuated and normalised within society. GBV encompasses various forms of violence, including economic, sexual, psychological, physical, and structural/institutional violence. These forms of violence can emanate from traditional practices such as dowries, female genital mutilation, honour killings, trafficking, forced prostitution, sexual harassment, and bullying.
Despite the serious political and legal strides in promoting gender equality, Africa as a continent still appears to be characterised by the history of discrimination and oppression against women and the persistence of Gender-Based Violence (GBV). Some scholars argue that the GBV scourge is instigated and perpetuated by a social order that supports patriarchal dominance and superiority over women through an unfair system of power, which is driven by sexist prejudices (Morrison, Ellsberg & Bott, 2007; Hadi, 2017; Bazaanah & Ngcobo, 2024).
Details
- Pages
- XIV, 278
- Publication Year
- 2026
- ISBN (PDF)
- 9781805840183
- ISBN (ePUB)
- 9781805840190
- ISBN (Softcover)
- 9781805840176
- DOI
- 10.3726/b22896
- Language
- English
- Publication date
- 2026 (June)
- Keywords
- Ubuntu African philosophy Gender Based Violence feminism Indigenous Knowledge Systems
- Published
- Chennai, Berlin, Bruxelles, Lausanne, New York, Oxford, 2026. xiv, 278 pp., 3 fig. b/w, 5 tables.
- Product Safety
- Peter Lang Group AG
