5.5. Public Response to Questionnaires
5.5.2. Women who had not attended Support Groups
accessing crucial (social) support. Although this research does not focus on the complexities of support and religious institutions, it is significant to note that the variable of religion did not feature in the support mentioned; that, although the women indicated that they believed in a religion, support obtained was from seemingly secular groups. One woman who was an educator sought help for domestic abuse, thereby confirming research that women abuse occurs across economic, class and work levels.
women indicated that at some time they needed the services of a support group (this percentage includes the eight women who had attended groups). The figure of 80%
that indicated that they did not know of any support groups, contrasted with the 97%
(including those who had attended groups) that indicated that there was a need for the same:
Have you ever wanted/nee de d to attend a support group?
YES NO DID NOT INDICATE
64 44 3
Do you know of any support groups?
YES NO DID NOT INDICATE
19 89 3
Do you feel that there is a need for support groups for women?
YES NO ***
108 3
***
But felt that more information is needed that the government is not doing enough
one indicated that she needed one and didn’t know of any (incongruent responses like this will be dealt with later under the section dealing with challenges of the research)
Comments from respondents which articulate the lack of knowledge of support groups also contain references to gender oppression:
Women support group is more important to everywomen (sic) so that they can see the potential in them, so the government should provide enough support for these groups.
Many people lack information about support groups for women, so there are taking it for granted. There should be more information to be given to the people.
Women do need support groups because most women get abused, sexually, emotionally and physically. Most women do not want to talk about these issues, because they have no one to trust or talk to and they’re scared.
Support is useful because those who have been abused (sic). Most of them get help from the support group.
I suggest that there should be HIV and domestic abuse (sic) support in our community the youth is still uneducated about HIV and lot of young women are abused by their loved one’s people they most trust.
Many women lack self confidence due to a variety of circumstances however (sic) they are not aware of where and how to access support groups.
The dominant themes emerging from these responses are that, whilst there exists a clear need for support groups for women, many of them are unaware of such services.
A significant factor which also emerges from these responses is that these women, who have not sought help from any support group or centre, clearly identify the need for the former. They also cite reasons why they think that support groups will be of benefit to them. Implicit in the responses are that support groups provide opportunities for empowerment and change.
Responses from the three who indicated that there was no need for support groups, seemed to contradict their other responses, for example by stating that they felt more information about support groups should be available, as well as that they felt that the government was not doing enough in supporting groups for women. The response from one that she had needed the services of a support group also contradicts her indication of there being no need for support groups. Incongruent responses such as these are dealt with in the section dealing with challenges of the research.
78% indicated that they felt that the government was not doing enough.
Do you feel that the government provides enough support for support groups?
YES **** NO DID NOT INDICATE
22 87 2
****
but felt that more information about support groups is needed that there is a need for support groups
most of these respondents indicated ‘YES’ to all questions - which indicated a contradiction in responses
Some of the detailed responses included:
Government is not providing enough support groups. Many support groups must be formed because there are many women out there who have needs but no one is able to meet their needs.
I suggest that Government should provide support groups for womens (sic) because they are destroyed abused with different ways. And those support groups must be offered without any payments.
This would be a good idea and should be regarded with highest importance due to the fact that there people in desperate need and who just ended being depressed and have nervous breakdowns all of which can be avoided. There should be places like this the areas where it is easy excessable (sic) maybe cost free if not a minimum charge.
Whilst these responses indicate that the respondents see the government as having the responsibility to provide support groups and their related services, they identify the government as falling short in its responsibility. Of further significance to me, are the constructs of the responses. Whilst the language usage is not of the highest or correct grammatical standard, the words indicate strong emotion and sentiment towards support and support groups for women.
Those that indicated that enough was being done by government contradicted themselves with their other responses, as indicated earlier. Once again religion did not feature as a supportive factor as the majority of women needed support, did not know where to find support, but had not solicited help from religious organisations. The fact that 59% of the respondents were employed, but indicated a need for support groups, is commensurate with my assertion that solicited support is not confined to employment or economic status, and that many women who are employed experience abuse. The lack of knowledge of support groups which prevented the majority of women from obtaining support and possibilities for empowerment reflects social constructs which enforce and perpetuate the disempowerment of women. The latter are required to negotiate challenging contexts in dominant male-shaped discourses
without support of resisting agencies such as support groups. However, the seeming complicity of the support groups in this situation reflects paradoxical complexities in their aiding the disempowerment of women- by the apparent lack of public information. This hypothesis will be examined further in the analysis of the feedback received from the groups.