Department of Social and Behavioral Health, Virginia Commonwealth University, School of Medicine, McGuire Hall Annex, 1st Floor, 1112 East Clay Street, PO Box 980149, Richmond, VA 23298-0149, USA.
Health Promot Int. 2012 Sep;27(3):323-30. doi: 10.1093/heapro/dar041. Epub 2011 Jul 6.
Gender-based violence is a widespread problem in South Africa. Past structural inequities have created a climate conducive to violence against women. As an initial step toward developing a health promotion program, we conducted exploratory formative research to examine the barriers that affect the health and well-being of youth. Fourteen focus groups (nine with girls and five with boys) were conducted with 112 adolescents in a racially mixed community on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa. We utilized grounded theory and thematic analysis to examine the data. The impact of poverty, ubiquitous gendered violence, transactional sex and unsafe recreational spaces emerged as the major themes. The experiences of youth were consumed by issues of safety rather than the pursuit of other developmentally appropriate markers. Our findings suggest that health promotion programs should create safe spaces for youth and opportunities to critically question the assumptions and manifestations of a patriarchal society. Furthermore, the findings indicate that there is a strong need for multi-sectorial interventions directed at many levels to prevent gender-based violence.
性别暴力是南非普遍存在的问题。过去的结构性不平等造成了有利于暴力侵害妇女行为的环境。作为制定健康促进计划的初步步骤，我们进行了探索性形成研究，以研究影响青年健康和福祉的障碍。在南非开普敦郊外一个种族混合的社区中，我们与 112 名青少年进行了 14 次焦点小组讨论（9 次与女孩进行，5 次与男孩进行）。我们利用扎根理论和主题分析来检查数据。贫困、普遍存在的性别暴力、性交易和不安全的娱乐空间的影响是主要主题。青年的经历被安全问题所吞噬，而不是追求其他发展适当的标志。我们的研究结果表明，健康促进计划应为青年创造安全的空间，并为他们提供机会，对家长制社会的假设和表现进行批判性质疑。此外，调查结果表明，需要在多个层面上采取多部门干预措施，以防止基于性别的暴力。
