Shelly Grabe University of California-Santa Cruz
SES-0921507 Mara Goldman University of Colorado-Boulder
Domestic violence is recognized internationally as a serious public health problem with grave implications for the well-being of women. At the same time risks associated with HIV/AIDS have increased particularly among women across Sub-Saharan Africa. The proposed research is a theoretically focused empirical investigation aimed at understanding the social process of violence against women by examining whether systematic differences in land ownership between men and women create structural inequalities that contribute to the alarmingly high rates of domestic violence and HIV infection among women in East Africa. The goal is to pursue interdisciplinary research on the role of land ownership in the prevention of violence against women in an understudied region where the problems of domestic violence and HIV risk among women are acute. In East Africa, land ownership and control is a sign of power and dominance and, importantly, new legislation in Tanzania challenges traditional gender ideology by asserting women's rights to own land. Since violence represents a societal problem, reducing violence against women requires changes in social structures and gender ideologies that perpetuate gendered power imbalances. The study will employ a quasi-experimental, longitudinal design with in-depth qualitative methods to reinforce large-scale quantitative survey data in order to investigate whether land ownership provides one potential structure by which violence against women is supported and sustained. The theories and methodologies put forth by U.S. social and behavioral sciences are well positioned to permit high-quality scientific research in the exact areas of which international bodies are calling for the elimination of discrimination against women and a better understanding of empowerment processes. This collaboration facilitates the integration of different, but complimentary, conceptual and methodological perspectives to more fully understand the sociocultural mechanisms that perpetuate a system of gender-based violence.
Broader Impacts. The proposed research has several broader impacts. First, the grant would bring together researchers from the U.S. and Tanzania, thereby facilitating the necessary international and interdisciplinary collaboration to conduct a research project of this scope. Research in the social sciences within the U.S. holds significant promise for making breakthroughs in understanding social behaviors such as violence against women globally. Second, promotion of international cooperation across the social sciences will foster effective research efforts that can achieve a lasting impact in areas consistent with the U.N. Development Millennium Goals to Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women. Tremendous changes are occurring so rapidly in many nations that researchers must move quickly if they are to collect information crucial for understanding them. Third, the collaboration of junior researchers in a timely area of global importance is aimed at securing a future generation of researchers expert in interdisciplinary, collaborative international research.
