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Summary: Presentation on research undertaken by Plan West Africa on violence against girls for the African Child Policy Forum conference that took place in Addis Ababa, from 11 to 12 May 2006.
Context of research Violence against girls is a prevalent practice throughout West Africa; furthermore research shows that girls are an oppressed group at the bottom of the social ladder. Plan International - West African Regional Office is currently conducting action-research that seeks to understand the daily experience of youth and children so that future interventions will be based on their actual experience. This project, entitled “Listening to the Experiences of Children and Young People: Agents of our Contemporary World,” is carried out in collaboration with five research centers in Benin, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Niger and Senegal. Twelve African researchers will produce ten ethnographies after five to six months of fieldwork in villages and urban neighborhoods in the Region.
Solid research rests on the active involvement of children and youth. However, since the project’s restitution, validation and interventions with the involved youth and youth groups remain undecided, this paper risks presenting premature conclusions. Nevertheless, the benefit of sharing this process and preliminary results justifies this deviation from the methodology and political stance it strives to materialize.
The research has shown that violence experienced by girls is very different from that experienced by boys. Although the research considered both, this specific paper focuses on the girls.
Violence as experienced by girls
The available information expressed by girls from the different research sites shows that girls mainly endure violence during interactions with male adults and male youth. The children and youth highlight two key sociological traits. Firstly, these are societies whose order is ideologically egalitarian, ideally structured by gender and seniority. This legitimizes symbolic and actual violence and greatly rests on the exchange of women. Although various historical facts challenge this order, additional resources required for any significant social change are unavailable. Hence, the second sociological trait is the lack of available social and economic resources to support the society’s transition from maintaining cohesiveness to fostering individual rights. Therefore, the importance and development of endurance as a way to handle powerlessness and suffering is largely understandable, and sheds light on the dysfunctions, violence and dynamics experienced.
Violence from adults and peers
Children and youth and other subordinates in these societies, regularly endure beatings. Girls’ status at the bottom of the social structure exposes them to much more beating. In fact, physical punishment is seen as a widespread way to obtain obedience and conformity to social norms as defended by hegemonic adult males, or to punish “offenders.” All interactions with adults, fathers, mothers, teachers, husbands, boyfriends, mothers-in-law, etc. commonly rely on physical punishment. Excessive physical punishment is legitimized as a fundamental educational method.