Trapped by Fate and Finances: Women’s Fatalistic Attitude, Economic Dependence, and Domestic Violence in Oppressive Marriages.

Abstract

In this paper, the complex nexus of fatalistic attitudes by women, their economic dependence and domestic violence in oppressive marriages in rural Sindh, Pakistan is explored. The research consists of adopting a qualitative research design with phenomenology approach in trying to capture the lived experiences of women subjected to domestic abuse. Semi structured in depth interviews were conducted with survivors of domestic violence, women’s rights activists, social workers and legal professionals in order to collect data. Economic dependence was complicated by the finding that thematically, this economic dependence negatively impacted dramatically on the ability of women to avoid abusive relationships, a finding that further reinforced the sentiment of women’s powerlessness. A fatalistic attitude, so deeply derived from cultural and religious story, strengthened their acceptance of suffering as an inescapable destiny. In addition, the study points to the roles of social stigma and institutional barriers in maintaining women from accessing legitimate social and legal support. A relationship analysis revealed a highly significant relationship between financial reliance, fatalistic beliefs and perpetuation of domestic violence. This finding lays the importance of multi-pronged intervention such as economic empowerment programmes, legal reforms, and campaigns against the social norms which sustain the domestic abuse. Through this research, the broader discourse on gender-based violence is furthered and policy recommendations on how support systems for vulnerable women should be enhanced are provided.