| Abstrakt: |
Violence against women is a significant public health problem in post-apartheid South Africa. The purpose of this secondary research study was to describe non-fatal firearm injuries in hospitalized South African women and to characterize the context in which women were victims of violent crimes. Most of the women had multiple injuries from the gunshot wound(s). A majority of the 14 women in the study reported knowing the person who shot them, but only 4 women reported the shooting to the police. Half of the women reported fearing for their safety since the shooting. The context and experiences of the women who were shot, severely injured, and hospitalized were collapsed into three core categories: intimate partner or interpersonal violence, gangsterism, and crime/robbery. Findings are interpreted within the cultural and social context of post-aparteid South Africa. Implications for policy, practice, and future research related to violence against women are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
