‘When you talk to someone in a bad way or always put her under pressure, it is actually worse than beating her’: Conceptions and experiences of emotional intimate partner violence in Rwanda and South Africa

Emotional intimate partner violence (IPV) is extremely common and has significant health and social consequences, yet typically receives much less attention in research and programming than physical and sexual IPV. This limits our understanding of how women experience and understand emotional IPV in different settings, which is required to inform effective prevention and response. This paper draws on qualitative data collected in mixed-methods impact evaluations of two IPV prevention programmes conducted as part of the What Works to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls Global Programme. In doing so, we seek to develop a more nuanced understanding of the forms, causes and consequences of emotional IPV in heterosexual relationships in two distinct African settings. We draw on two rounds of in-depth interviews conducted with 15 women in South Africa and three rounds of interviews conducted with 57 women and men in Rwanda, all of whom were participants in the programmes, around their experiences of and conceptualizations of emotional IPV. Thematic analysis around emotional IPV was conducted and compared across both data sets, informed by a cross comparative analysis approach. The analysis found that the categories or types of acts perceived as emotional IPV by women experienced were similar across settings. Women in both contexts described public humiliation, control of mobility, access to housing and silencing as important categories of actions experienced emotional IPV. These types of emotional IPV were underpinned by similar patterns of gender inequalities, with the intention for men to assert control and power over women. The specific acts through which these categories of emotional IPV manifested in the two settings arose from contextual differences related to the social structure of relationships and dominant social norms. This analysis highlights commonalities in the underlying categorial understanding of IPV in two distinct African settings, and well as the differences in specific manifestations which stem from the social context of relationships. In doing so, we highlight both broad categorical areas of IPV that may be important to address in future research and prevention programming, as well as affirming the need for information on context-specific manifestations of emotional IPV to inform local intervention programmes.

情感亲密伴侣暴力（Emotional intimate partner violence，IPV）极为普遍，且会造成严重的健康与社会后果，但相较于躯体暴力与性暴力形式的亲密伴侣暴力，此类暴力在研究与干预项目中往往受到的关注要少得多。这限制了我们对不同场景下女性如何体验与认知情感IPV的理解，而这类理解正是制定有效预防与应对策略的必要基础。本文依托于"预防暴力侵害妇女和女童有效措施全球项目"（What Works to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls Global Programme）旗下两项亲密伴侣暴力预防项目的混合方法影响评估所采集的定性数据展开研究。借此，我们旨在更细致地阐释两种不同非洲场景下异性亲密关系中情感IPV的表现形式、成因与后果。研究采用了两类访谈数据：针对南非的15名女性受访者开展的两轮深度访谈，以及针对卢旺达的57名女性与男性受访者开展的三轮访谈，所有受访者均参与了前述项目，访谈内容围绕他们对情感IPV的体验与认知展开。研究采用跨比较分析框架，对情感IPV开展主题分析并对两组数据集进行对比。分析结果显示，受访女性所认定为情感IPV的行为类别与类型在不同场景中具有相似性。两类场景下的女性均将当众羞辱、行动控制、住房管控与缄默压制列为情感IPV的重要行为类别。这些类型的情感IPV均以类似的性别不平等模式为根基，其核心动机均为男性试图掌控女性、彰显自身权力。不过，两类场景下情感IPV各类别所表现出的具体行为，却因双方关系的社会结构与主流社会规范的差异而有所不同。本分析凸显了两种不同非洲场景下，人们对IPV的基础类别认知存在共性，同时也揭示了源于双方关系社会背景的具体表现差异。借此，我们既明确了未来研究与预防干预项目中或需重点关注的情感IPV核心类别领域，也证实了针对情感IPV的场景化具体表现开展调研的必要性，以此为本地干预项目提供信息支撑。