Domestic violence against women is a global health phenomenon that needs to be dealt with urgently. This grave issue has been recurrent to the extent that it stands as one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 5.2: to eradicate all forms of violence against women). One of the ways literature has attempted to address domestic violence is by arguing that entrepreneurship and empowerment are tools that can meliorate domestic violence. However, there is little knowledge of how women understand domestic violence after having participated in such programmes. Such understanding can give a better insight into how their attitudes and experiences change. Moreover, notions such as entrepreneurship and empowerment have been pre-dominantly constructed by Western and neo-liberal ideas. Henceforth, this thesis utilises a post-colonial feminist framework to deconstruct and challenge dominant narratives that prevail in the literature. The study context is based in Maputo, Mozambique where domestic violence is highly prevalent; according to the National Statistics Institute, 46.2% of women reported domestic violence in Maputo alone in 2020-2021. The study used a qualitative approach to investigate whether women who have experienced domestic violence and participated in entrepreneurial training programmes change their understanding of domestic violence. The study undertook 31 interviews with 16 women participants, 11 facilitators (programme personnel) and 4 nonparticipants and used discourse analysis to analyse the data. The results indicate that women participants’ understanding of domestic violence shifted from being ‘culturally’ acceptable to unjustifiably wrong. Interestingly, the study found that facilitators relied on the ‘culture’ discourse to explain the occurrence of domestic violence. Therefore, women’s understanding of domestic violence is scarcely shaped by the programme facilitator’s discourse. The results of this study support the view that amplifying women’s voices is of utmost importance, and they are not mere ‘subalterns.’ This can change how ‘Third World’ women are portrayed, and the notions of entrepreneurship and empowerment can be redefined. The research results represent a step further towards developing women's support programme that is equipped to meet women’s needs as the results carry implications for programme facilitators and policy makers. Key words: Domestic violence, Economic Empowerment, Entrepreneurship training, Post colonial feminism, Global South.
| Date of Award | 30 Sep 2024 |
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| Original language | English |
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| Supervisor | Claudio De Mattos (Main Supervisor) & Anna Zueva (Co-Supervisor) |
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