How the problem of violence against women and children is represented in South African intervention research

This report critically assesses 57 research papers to find out how researchers define the problem of violence.

This research critically analysed 57 research papers that were included in the 2019 Evidence Map: South African interventions to prevent violence against women and children. The evidence map was produced by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), the Centre for Learning on Evaluation and Results (CLEAR) at the University of the Witwatersrand, and the Africa Centre for Evidence, on behalf of the Violence Prevention Forum. The map contains research and evaluations of violence prevention interventions implemented in South Africa between 1990 and 2018. The research applied Carol Bacchi's feminist policy analysis methodology that asks, 'What is the problem represented to be?' (WPR). The WPR approach was used to assess the 57 research papers in the evidence map to find out how researchers define the problem of violence, the assumptions and presuppositions that underpin the problem definition, the silences and the impact on policy and practice of how the problem is represented.

About the authors

Matodzi M Amisi is a senior research consultant in the Justice and Violence Prevention Programme at the Institute for Security Studies.

Kudakwashe Vanyoro is a postdoctoral research fellow at the African Centre for Migration & Society, University of the Witwatersrand.

Thomas Archibald is an associate professor and extension specialist in the Department of Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education at Virginia Tech.

Muofhe Mulondo is a junior research consultant with the Institute for Security Studies.