Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Access Criminology and Criminal Justice journals now

Click here to sign up for SAGE Journal Email Alerts today!

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Kvam, M. H.
Right arrow Articles by Braathen, S. H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Kvam, M. H.
Right arrow Articles by Braathen, S. H.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

"I thought . . . maybe this is my chance"

Sexual Abuse Against Girls and Women With Disabilities in Malawi

Marit Hoem Kvam

SINTEF Health Research, Oslo, Norway

Stine Hellum Braathen

SINTEF Health Research, Oslo, Norway

This article is based on a pilot study conducted in Malawi in 2006 that intended to uncover episodes of violence and abuse against women and girls with disabilities and furthermore to explore the mechanisms behind such acts. The stories of 23 women with disabilities were obtained through in-depth semistructured interviews that covered, among other topics, aspects of sexual abuse experienced by or known to these women. None of the informants reported having been sexually abused during childhood. In adulthood, several had experienced what they themselves defined as sexual abuse: Men came and wanted to "marry" them. When the woman became pregnant, the man disappeared and left her alone. The interviewees were very opinionated regarding this theme and sought both social and political action in this matter, especially a means to enforce men to take economic responsibility for their biological children. The informants stressed that adapted education for women with disabilities would allow them to become more economically independent and be better able to refuse the advances of unserious suitors.

Key Words: sexual abuse • sexual harassment • girls/women with disabilities • Malawi

Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, Vol. 20, No. 1, 5-24 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1079063208314817
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?