Intimate partner violence against women in Southern Punjab, Pakistan: A phenomenological study.

BACKGROUND: Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) refers to behavior by an intimate partner that can cause physical, sexual, or psychological harm; is a common global public health issue requiring immediate attention. IPV is the most common form of violence in rural areas of Punjab, Pakistan. METHODS: This qualitative phenomenological study collected 46 in-depth interviews from married women who experienced IPV in the rural areas of South Punjab. A semi-structured interview guide was used for data collection. These women were selected through a snowball sampling technique from October 2018 to March 2019. Researchers accessed the study setting with the help of gatekeepers (Lady Health Workers and Village Heads). The interviews were audio-recorded in the local language (Saraiki) and were translated into English. The data were analyzed using the thematic inductive analysis technique. RESULTS: The study has presented multifaceted factors of IPV by using the socio-ecological framework in rural areas of South Punjab, Pakistan. The current study introduced culturally contextualized terminologies of "protection," "physical submissiveness," "mental delicacy," and "social security". For married women, culturally embedded terms became the primary cause of IPV. In addition, the study also highlighted some of the cultural terminologies (such as run-mureed, watta-satta, beghairat, izzat, etc.) that are ubiquitous in the local context that sometimes intensifies IPV in the family and community sphere. Furthermore, the study discussed how gender-based inequalities trigger a status quo that ultimately creates power discrimination between spouses, which perpetuates violence in the domestic context. CONCLUSIONS: Gender-prejudiced roles and expectations imposed by orthodoxy, misinterpretations of Islamic teachings, and dominant patriarchy can be contested through awareness campaigns among the public, and gender sensitization drives among public institutions of police and judiciary. Education and employment-based can lead to women's empowerment and help to challenge the orthodox anti-feminist societal norms and the role of kinship-based networks in the family and community sphere.

The Role of Stakeholders Participation, Goal Directness and Learning Context in Determining Student Academic Performance: Student Engagement as a Mediator.

There is a growing body of literature on the predictors of student academic performance. The current study aims to extend this line of inquiry, and has linked stakeholders' participation, goal directness and classroom context with students' academic outcomes. Using the multistage sampling technique, the researchers collected cross-sectional data from 2,758 high school students. This study has employed regression analysis (simple linear regression and hierarchical linear regression modeling) to test the study hypotheses. The results revealed that learning context produces highest variance in students' engagement (R2 = 59.5%) and their academic performance (R2 = 42%). It is further evident that goal directness has the highest influence on students' academic performance (Std. ß = 0.419) while learning climate of the classroom frequently affects their engagement (Std. ß = 0.38) in studies. Results also illustrated that students' overall engagement (R = 99.1%: Model-5 = 0.849) and cognitive induction (R2 = 79.2%: Model-5 = 0.792) yield highest variance in their academic performance. Although stakeholders' participation causes low variance in students' academic performance but the role of parents, teachers, peers and students (themselves) remained significant. Further, student engagement mediates the direct relationship (s) of independent and outcomes variable. The findings of the present research could be potentially useful for policymakers and schools to ensure the elevation in students' engagement and their academic performance in studies.

Watering the Plant in Another's Courtyard: An Ethnographic Exploration of Daughters' Devaluation Through Sex-Selected Abortions Among the Rural Married Females in South Punjab, Pakistan.

The current study sets forth the cultural underpinnings for daughters' devaluation over son preferences in South Punjab, Pakistan. The major purpose of the present study was to provide an accurate description of women's attitude on different aspects of sex-selected abortions (SSAs). Women, with a rural background, either forced to devalue their female fetus clinically or based on violence, were the targeted participants. Using ethnographic exploration with 161 obtrusive observations, 37 in-depth interviews, and 10 focus group discussions (FGD), comprising of 85 narrated case studies, the attitudes of rural married females toward daughters' devaluation through SSAs were recorded. The findings of study allied the autonomy paradigm with a feminist perspective through argumentation of the lack of women's individual identity in the domestic sphere. In addition, sociocultural legitimization toward patriarchal regimes snatches women's autonomy over their reproductive behavior. Resultantly, daughters' devaluation is analogous to sons' preference, which arose through women's subservience and exposure to violence in the intricate cultural web. Using ethnographic exploration through various anthropological research techniques, it explicates the nuanced feminist regimes for understanding women's reproductive choice and empowerment. In conclusion, women's subordination is the cause of differential power relations and inadequate gender inequality which results in SSAs. The current study exposed gender-biased power discrimination that consequently affects the women's autonomous decision making about their reproductive behavior. Similarly, it highlighted how husband and in-laws (especially mother-in-law) used illegal medicines, dietary practices, traditional methods, or new biotechnological methods to execute the illegal act of SSA. This study may serve as the basic legal framework to check the deep-rooted culture of violence against vulnerable segments of the population.