Browsing by Author "Menesia Panduleni Shikongo"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The nature of social services provided by social workers for women experiencing intimate partner violence in Namibia
    (2023-03) Menesia Panduleni Shikongo; Khosa, Priscalia; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Social Work.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Every country plans how it will ensure the protection of women from intimate partner violence (IPV) and other forms of abuse. Enacted laws and legislations usually contribute to significant ways of protecting women. As there is an increased rate of IPV among women worldwide, this study investigated social services provided by social workers for women experiencing IPV. This study aimed at understanding social workers’ perspectives on the nature of social services provided for women experiencing IPV. The study employed a qualitative research methodology and exploratory research design was utilised. Purposive sampling which is a non-probability sampling was utilised to recruit social workers in Namibia. The participants were employed as social workers at the Ministry of Health and Social Services, and Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare. In this study, ten social workers were recruited and volunteered to partook as participants. The study found that social workers offer services to women experiencing IPV at various levels of the ecological system, namely: microsystem, mesosystem and macrosystem. One of the crucial conclusions drawn in this study was that social workers encounter challenges as they provide social services to women experiencing IPV. The main challenge was that women experiencing IPV need place of safety and/ shelter. Thus, the study recommends that the government should prioritise the construction of more places of safety countrywide. This is because these places offer a more conducive environment for the support of IPV survivors than in wards at referral hospitals.