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Research Articles (Criminology and Forensic Studies)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10413/7768

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Browsing Research Articles (Criminology and Forensic Studies) by Author "Majola, Khanyisile Berlinda."

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    Gender-based violence: sociocultural barriers to men speaking up and seeking help in South Africa.
    (2022-03) Akpan, Udoh James.; Majola, Khanyisile Berlinda.; Mkhize, Sazelo Michael.
    Gender-based violence (GBV) includes, but is not limited to, physical, sexual, psychological, and other threats, coercion, economic harm, etc. Because of their gender placement in society, men are frequently associated with being the perpetrators.. Therefore, using the term “gender-based” reflects the unequal power relationships between the genders, which are entrenched in all societies. It portrays the male gender as being the aggressor and the more powerful, endowed, and opportune in society. This article examines and speculates on the notion that men are sometimes the victims of gender-based violence and women are the perpetrators. Mobilising a secondary data methodology through a systematic review approach, the article consulted electronic resources such as EBSCOHOST, JSTOR, and Google Scholar. The articles consulted ranged from 1996 to 2022, were searched from a global perspective, especially the West, and finally narrowed down to South Africa. JSTOR and Google Scholar produced 95% of the search results, though Google Scholar was most dominant. The key words and phrases used for the search were centred on foregrounding the problem of male GBV victims and their reluctance to speak up and seek help. The inclusion criteria focused on males who suffered violence at the hands of female perpetrators. Male to female violence was excluded. The study concluded that there is a need for society, especially the police organisation to recognise violence against men as a social problem that requires urgent help. It also suggests that counsellors be set up for men in remote places who are losing their self-confidence and esteem in relationships, family setting, and society. It also recommended that South African men need to be encouraged by the media and the Civil Society Organisation to speak up and seek help so that they can maintain their sociocultural prestige, and manage social cohesion in the family and society.
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    Interrogating the normative tradition of Ukukhuzela (court praises) in the age of rape culture in a cosmopolitan society: insights from Zulu students from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
    (2023-09) Majola, Khanyisile Berlinda.; Akpan, Udoh James.; Mkhize, Sazelo Michael.
    Social and cultural norms are guidelines or expectations for behaviour and thought that are based on common beliefs within a social or cultural group. What is (and is not) appropriate in interpersonal relationships is governed by norms, which are frequently unstated rules for acceptable and undesirable behaviour. Within societal groups, these normative practices can then translate into a cultural normative construct that becomes exercised. The Zulu cultural normative practice of ukukhuzela is put in question here. The author interrogates its existence in today‟s cosmopolitan communities through in-depth interviews and focused group discussion with university students of Zulu extraction at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The participants included male and female students. Secondary sources of data in the form of published literature, including research monographs and journal articles, were consulted to meet the study's aims. Findings suggest that ukukhuzela has been discrepantly identified and associated with the social normative practice of rape culture antics due to insufficient knowledge of its practice. Narratives of ukukhuzela vary, as some identify it as a violation of their space, noting that it has notions of hyper-sexualising attention. With other participants seeing it for its true purpose, which is the admiration and endearment of women. The study noted that times have changed, modernity has challenged the dominance of tradition, and there is a need for concerted and deliberate efforts to create an atmosphere of social cohesion through mass and cultural education