Young People, Violence and Strategic Interventions in Sub-Saharan Africa

240 Pages·2023·4.368 MB·English

by  Kammila Naidoo, Oluwafemi Adeagbo, Xiaoming Li

Clinical Sociology: Research and Practice
Kammila Naidoo
Oluwafemi Adeagbo
Xiaoming Li   Editors
Young People,
Violence and
Strategic
Interventions in
Sub-Saharan Africa
Clinical Sociology: Research and Practice
SeriesEditor
Jan Marie Fritz, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, University of
Johannesburg,Johannesburg,SouthAfrica
Theseriesexploreskeyresearchandpracticeinthisrapidlyexpandingfield.Topics
include ethical and legal aspects of intervention; the nature of client relationships;
methodsofinterventionandevaluation;andtheroleofclinicalsociologyinspecific
settings.Thisopen-endedseriesappealstopractitioners,policymakers,studentsand
professors in sociology, social work, community psychology, public health, health
education,socialpolicyandcounseling.
(cid:129) (cid:129)
Kammila Naidoo Oluwafemi Adeagbo
Xiaoming Li
Editors
Young People, Violence
and Strategic Interventions
in Sub-Saharan Africa
Editors
KammilaNaidoo OluwafemiAdeagbo
DepartmentofSociology DepartmentofCommunityandBehavioral
UniversityofJohannesburg Health,CollegeofPublicHealth
Johannesburg,SouthAfrica UniversityofIowa
Iowa,IA,USA
XiaomingLi
ArnoldSchoolofPublicHealth
UniversityofSouthCarolina
Columbia,IN,USA
ISSN1566-7847
ClinicalSociology:ResearchandPractice
ISBN978-3-031-20678-8 ISBN978-3-031-20679-5 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20679-5
©TheEditor(s)(ifapplicable)andTheAuthor(s),underexclusivelicensetoSpringerNatureSwitzerland
AG2023
Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsaresolelyandexclusivelylicensedbythePublisher,whether
thewholeorpartofthematerialisconcerned,specificallytherightsoftranslation,reprinting,reuseof
illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and
transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by
similarordissimilarmethodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped.
Theuseofgeneraldescriptivenames,registerednames,trademarks,servicemarks,etc.inthispublication
doesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfromtherelevant
protectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse.
The publisher, the authors, and the editorsare safeto assume that the adviceand informationin this
bookarebelievedtobetrueandaccurateatthedateofpublication.Neitherthepublishernortheauthorsor
theeditorsgiveawarranty,expressedorimplied,withrespecttothematerialcontainedhereinorforany
errorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeenmade.Thepublisherremainsneutralwithregardtojurisdictional
claimsinpublishedmapsandinstitutionalaffiliations.
ThisSpringerimprintispublishedbytheregisteredcompanySpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG
Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:Gewerbestrasse11,6330Cham,Switzerland
Foreword
AbigailM.HatcherandChukaN.Emezue
Cause for Celebration: And Call to Action
Atnoothertimeinourhistoryhasitbeenmorecriticaltobringtogetherthevoicesof
Africanscholars,youth,communityworkers,andadvocatesdrawingourattentionto
variousformsofviolenceimpactingyoungpeople.Fromlocalgenderhegemoniesto
case studies of community (in)action, innovative and disruptive thinking, to legal
andpolicysuccessesandfailures,thisbookpresentsseveralnovelthreadsthathave,
todate,beenunderstudiedintheliterature.Chaptersinthisbookbreaknewground
in Sub-Saharan African settings and represent significant advances for adolescent
health and violence prevention globally, sometimes contextualized within the cur-
rent pandemic era—a time when forms of violence have morphed and escalated.
Therearethreewaysthatthiscollectionaddressesimportantgapsinwhatisknown
about violence prevention among young people: its expansion of populations of
interest,itsadditiontothetypesofviolenceconsideredintheAfricancontext,andits
intentionalfocusonsubmissionsfromauthorswhoarefromSub-SaharanAfricaand
focustheirresearchonthecontinent.
Severaltopicalandcriticalchaptershaveemergedtomakethiscollectionrobust.
Theauthorshighlightthelivedexperiencesofsub-groupsofadolescentsandyoung
adults, from immigrant youth to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and
others(LGBTQ+)youth,frompregnantadolescentwomentoyoungboysasvictims
of violence in the hands of men, women, and girls. These and other youth cohorts
discussed here remain severely under-examined and deserve our scholarly and
policy attention. In response,Mkhize and Maharajfocus onlesbian, gay, bisexual,
andtransgender(LGBT)youthinSouthAfricaandhighlighthowhealthsystemsare
v
vi Foreword
complicitintheirpersistentdiscrimination.Intheirsystematicreview,Gumedeetal.
similarlyhighlightanunderstudiedgroupinSouthAfrica—youngmenexposedto
intimate partner violence, so that the age-old erasure of the experiences of young
malevictimsofviolenceisbroughtintothespotlight,evenasweremainvigilantin
supportingfemalesurvivors,andmovingthefieldbeyondthisscholasticdichotomy.
The types of multiform violence and youth at various stations of vulnerabilities
identified in this book extend far beyond a traditional definition of gender-based
violence.Theseformsofabuseremainintricatelylinkedtootherformsofpersistent
violence. Makanishe and Umubyeyi, as well as Akanle and Uzieyi, draw our
attention to xenophobic violence against immigrant youth and a televised
government-endorsed political violence in Nigeria, respectively. From a policy
and legal perspective, Brand and Fawole dive deeper into technology-enhanced
and online violence, including stalking, online harassment, and Internet fraud,
while centering this experience within the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pan-
demic. It is important to note that even as these types expand our definition of
violence,theyretainagenderedandsocio-ecologicalframing.
Certainly,justasglobalmasculinityandfemininitytakeondiverselifeformsand
interpretationsintheAfricancontext,wefindsomeofthesegenderdomainsrevived
asemergentidentitiesthatinitiate,sustain,andoccasionallyresistformsofviolence.
In reading about how local hegemonies impact “feminine boys” or how young
women inthe Eastern Cape, South Africa, attempt to resist patriarchal violence by
findingeconomicagencythrough“sugardaddies,”weareremindedoftheintersec-
tion of socio-economic disadvantage, discrimination, fragile policies, and strict
gendernorms.Thesefactorsreliablysustainviolenceperpetrationwhiledetermining
whoisatriskofsurvivingandresistingit.Theviolencepreventionfieldhasalong
way to travel before it adequately reflects the lived realities of young people. Still,
theseauthorstranscendthe“foreverdiscussions”wehavegrownaccustomedtoand
the African way of “constantly returning to the drawing board” to highlight and
centralize some actionable solutions. In short, they help push new and emerging
frontiers.
Methodologically, the next version of this book might draw upon longitudinal
qualitativeandethnographicwork.Thiscouldbedeepenedthroughnon-traditional
researchmethodsandmethodologies,suchasphotovoice,arts-basedapproaches,or
community-basedparticipatorymethods.Itwouldberemarkableiftherichqualita-
tive data from many chapters were one day complemented by more extensive
population-based quantitative studies or intervention trials. As highlighted in the
introduction by Naidoo et al., very little is known about how we might prevent
violenceagainstyoungpeople.Severalcountriesandcornersofthecontinentremain
outside the majority scholarship. These are critical omissions in the literature and
practice. The theoretical underpinnings of the adolescent stage in the life course
deservemoreattentioninfutureobservationalandinterventionstudies.Likewise,we
must become comfortable with including youths in this work’s planning, design,
implementation,anddissemination.Theuniquenessofadolescence,physiologically,
behaviorally,andsocially,willrequiretailoredapproaches.Sometheoreticalframe-
works that might offer fertile ground include queer feminist theory, positive youth
Foreword vii
development, de-coloniality, post-coloniality, as well as strength-based and other
criticalpractices,particularlyfromAfricanscholarsorresearchersofcolor.
Yet, even where the will exists, adolescent research is growing increasingly
arduoustofund—outsidethenarrowbiomedicalframingofthehumanimmunode-
ficiency virus (HIV) and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), substance use, or
pregnancyprevention.Theintersectionofthesecomorbiditieswithviolenceisoften
an afterthought. The lion’s share of research funding for adolescent health or
violence prevention goes to white researchers from high-income countries, who
face lesser gatekeeping in institutional support and indeed in accessing education
andemploymentrequiredtosecureresearchgrants.
Ethicalstipulationscontinuetoexcludeyoungpeoplefromsafelyparticipatingin
research without parental permission. Rather than protecting young people, this
often means that researchers are unable to focus on this population or develop the
science around preventing violence in younger participants. Adolescent research
alsosuccumbstocomplexitiesofcommunitybacklashandpaternalismthatassume
young people cannot have a say in how they stay well, have sex, or conduct their
peerrelationships.Thesecomplexitiesarenotbyaccident.Theyreflectthecolonial,
paternalistic, and often racist undertones of global research funding and, in turn,
researchimplementation.The same structuresthat place Sub-SaharanAfrican ado-
lescentsatgreaterriskofviolencethanpeersinothersettingsoroldercounterparts
equally guide how resources are put in place to solve (or be complicit towards)
violenceexposure.
However, this book highlights how overcoming such barriers to research can
push the violence prevention and adolescent health fields forward. It is a cause for
celebration and a reinforcement that African-led research efforts will ultimately
improve the well-being of citizens across the continent. We have high hopes that
theauthorsincludedinthis book—and thefacts,arguments, solutions,and visions
forouryouththeycogentlyraise—willindeedframethecontinent’snextgeneration.
Contents
1 SettingtheScene. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
KammilaNaidoo,OluwafemiAdeagbo,andXiaomingLi
2 ProtectingYoungPeopleinSub-SaharanAfricaAgainst
SexualandGender-BasedViolenceviaSexualand
ReproductiveHealthandRights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
YvonneGamuchiraiTagwireyiandLorenzaFluks
3 AStudyofInternet-FacilitatedViolenceAgainstWomen
DuringtheCOVID-19PandemicLockdownin
Sub-SaharanAfrica. .. . . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . . .. 45
AnkeBrandandAdebolaFawole
4 YoungMasculinitiesandViolenceinSouthAfrica:
ReflectionsontheLiterature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
MadelineGerber,SofiLeBerre,andDeniseBuiten
5 ImpactofXenophobicViolenceAgainstImmigrant
YouthInformalTraders:EvidencefromDurban,SouthAfrica. . . 83
BisimwaTimotheeMakanisheandBeatriceUmubyeyi
6 HeteronormativityinHealthSettings:RealitiesofLGBT
Youth’sAccesstoHealthcareinSouthAfrica. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
SthembisoPollenMkhizeandPranithaMaharaj
7 “SecuretheBag”:YoungWomen’sAgenciesTowardBetter
VersusBareRealitiesDuringCOVID. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
SinethembaSidloyi
8 YouthChallengesinNamibiaDuringCOVID-19:Engaging
Joblessness,Violence,andE-Learning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
ImmaculateMogotsi,MariaKaundjua,andNelagoIndongo
ix
x Contents
9 CatalyzingActiononIntimatePartnerViolenceAgainst
PregnantAdolescentGirlsandYoungWomeninZambia. . . . . . . 163
EugeneKrupa,AlbertManasyan,KateWoodman,NobutuMuttau,
andJ.AnithaMenon
10 Males’ExperiencesofGender-BasedViolencein
Sub-SaharanAfrica(SSA):AReviewofLiterature. . . . . . . . . . . . 187
DumsaniGumede,ManonoLuthuli,SiphesihleHlongwane,
KingsleyOrievulu,NtombizonkeGumede,andOluwafemiAdeagbo
11 YouthExclusionandViolenceasIntervention:
TheEndSARSProtestasMetaphorinNigeria. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
OlayinkaAkanleandGoodluckUzieyi
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231