CAPÍTULO II: ANTECEDENTES, EVOLUCIÓN Y DEFINICIÓN DE LA JUSTICIA
2.2. Definición de la justicia de paz en el Perú
Scheduled tribe
Men felt that only a few men drank alcohol. They also felt that domestic violence was uncommon and rare. They felt it was not the norm.
Scheduled caste
Domestic violence and alcoholism appear to be highly prevalent. But overall men viewed violence as a normal part of life. They admitted that violence was exacerbated by alcohol use. Men who drank would commonly spend a large portion or all of their income on liquor, which they acknowledged caused problems for food. Men felt that it would be better if the women kept quiet and did not retaliate or question them. Some men also took loans to drink.
Backward caste
Alcoholism and violence are highly prevalent. When men drink they spend all their wages on liquor and this creates problems for food. Men will even incur debt within the village to be able to drink. Most view this as normal, violence is normal and they did not intervene in these situations.
Domestic violence was prevalent in all three groups, but it was slightly less common in tribal areas (boxes 3.29 to 3.31, and tables 3.16 to 3.19). Similarly alcohol use was also less common. It is however difficult to tell whether women had less decision-making capabilities and freedom of movement or not (tables 3.17 and 3.18).
Some women from violent homes made family decisions and ran their households by default because their husbands were alcoholics. In several cases women were forced to work as daily wage labourers and had to hand over their income to their husbands. They were only allowed to go to work and were perhaps free to move about the village. In other cases women were not allowed to work and were only able to get water and go to the toilet.
Women from violent homes were more likely to feel they were less respected than their peers from non-violent homes, and that they have problems due to the violence (table 3.35). Others felt that the violence was a problem, but they accepted it as normal and felt that they were no less respected as a result o f the violence. Moreover, it is probable that admitting that their husbands did not respect them must have been quite difficult, and those who did, may have felt that their experience o f violence was above the norm in that community. Most respondents from tribal areas felt that someone would intervene in domestic situations. In rural areas, women were less likely to get any support from the neighbours or the community.
Given the setting for the interviews - in this case within women’s homes, it is surprising how many women reported violence. It is also possible, if not probable, that the prevalence of domestic violence may in fact be higher than that reported here. The location of the interviews and the fact that the researcher and her assistant were strangers in most cases may have deterred some women from reporting their experience of domestic violence. Because the interview settings were unsafe for women, no effort was made to probe further to obtain details about the nature and causes of domestic violence in their setting. Those women who wanted to share their experiences often did so candidly and at length, this is the data that was analysed. This issue emerged as an important theme, but the details as to why violence occurs are not known and have not been revealed in this data set, primarily because this was not a primary aim for this part of the study.
3.3.13 Summary and conclusions
As mentioned earlier, the various types o f data presented in this section triangulate well. The picture that emerges is one that suggests that the tribal and rural women, while similar in some respects, do differ in important ways. The salient similarities and differences between
the groups are given in table 3.20. Nuclear families predominate in the tribal area, while this is less common among the scheduled and backward castes. For the three groups access to basic resources and the general dietary practices are similar. Problems with the anganwadi centres were also reported in all three groups. Intra-household dietary patterns differed in that tribal women were more likely to report that they all ate together as a family, while both the scheduled and backward caste women often reported that they were the last to eat. In all groups, women reported that they did not receive any special foods during pregnancy; diet restrictions were also not commonly imposed at this time. In terms o f postpartum confinement practices, tribal women’s diets differed from that of rural women’s. Importantly, the period o f confinement was much shorter for the tribal women. Tribal women tended to have better breastfeeding initiation practices than scheduled and backward caste women, however most women from the three groups reported that they started solids when children were older than 12 months.
As expected, women from all groups reported that the most common illnesses affecting young children were respiratory infections and diarrhoeal disease. However the frequency and seasonality of each illness is unclear from this data. What is apparent though are the differences in access to and cost of health care. Because tribal women had access to a free health clinic, they could take their children when needed, without permission from their husbands and at no cost. In contrast, the scheduled and backward caste women had to rely on their husbands and elders to gain access to health centres for their children. For these women, the cost, opportunity cost, distance and time taken to get to a health centre was high. Moreover, women needed to obtain permission to take their child to a health centre.
There are important differences in the process o f marriage and the practice o f dowry. In the tribal community, men and women felt that women were entitled to choose their life partner, and dowry as a practice was not acceptable. Among the scheduled and backward caste communities, women’s marriages were arranged, and the bride’s family having to pay a dowry was becoming increasingly common. Women from all three groups reported that they felt respected in their marriage, this appeared to be the case so as long as they felt they were treated with the same respect as other married women of their age and from their neighbourhood or community. Where women felt different to other women, as women from
violent homes did, then they appeared to feel less respected. In some cases where violence was common, women still felt respected. Presumably because violence was condoned and women perhaps perceived violence and respect as unrelated to one another. It is clear however that women felt they gained respect with age, scheduled and backward caste women in particular felt they would get more respect when their daughter-in-law arrived.
Tribal women did not work outside the home for wages; they were mainly in charge of subsistence farming. In contrast, scheduled caste women were more likely to work outside for wages, even more so than backward caste women. Here the subtle caste differences between the scheduled and backward caste is more apparent. In part, it is more socially acceptable for scheduled caste women to work outside for wages, particularly since they are the lowest caste. These norms differ slightly for the backward caste women. But overall, in these two groups, younger women were less likely to be sent out to work. An important difference to note between the tribal and rural women is that tribal women had greater control over their income and the household income. To some degree, this was probably a function of their belonging to a nuclear family. They were also free to take credit for food if needed or they could borrow food. If at all the scheduled and backward caste women could take credit for food, it would have to have been from a woman. In general, they had little or no control over their income or the household’s income. Similar differences are seen in terms of women’s decision-making capabilities and freedom of movement. Tribal women are very involved in all decisions, while scheduled and backward caste women have only limited capabilities, and overall this was also age-dependent. As for freedom of movement, most tribal women felt were able to travel substantial distances, but this was not the case for the scheduled and backward caste women. Finally, few women from any of the groups had access to any form of media, most were also illiterate, and virtually none had access to women’s sanghas. Domestic violence appears to be highly prevalent, though it was slightly less in the tribal area. Tribal respondents felt that the community and family would intervene in cases of violence. This was not the case for the scheduled and backward caste women. In the next chapter, the quantitative findings will show the associations between these differences in women’s status and child growth.
Table 3.20 Salient similarities and differences between the tribal and rural group.
Similarities between tribal and non-tiibal women
Socio-economic status A ccess to ration cards Water and sanitation
Maternai and paternal education Food Security
Hygiene and sanitation A ccess to the ICDS programme Dietary habits
Late onset of weaning
Men work as agricuiturai labourers and are involved in food production/farming_______
Differences between tribal and non-trlbal women
Tribal Women Non-Tribal Women
Sparsely populated Less electrification in hom es
Greater a ccess to natural resources eg. Firewood Poor infrastructure
Distance between homes Nuclear families predominate
Women are predominantly involved in foods production, not men
Women are rarely employed for w ages The families eat together
The process of marriage is mutual consent and usually elopement by the couple, in som e ca ses parents do arrange marriages but mutual consent is critical. No dowries are given and nothing is exchanged
Later marriage Can choose her partner Can divorce and remarry
Period of postpartum confinement is very short, from none to five months - the norm is 1-3 months Women will deliver in natal or affinal home, no strong tendency
Women are heavily involved in household decision-making, and have power to decide Freedom of movement is considerable Health care is free, and women are free to seek health care independently of other household members
Good breastfeeding initiation practices Natal families intervene in c a s e s of domestic violence
Domestic violence is not really tolerated
Women have support from natal home___________
Densely populated
More electrification in homes
Less a c cess to natural resources eg. Firewood Good infrastructure
No space between homes; crowded
Nuclear and joint families occur in equal frequency, with a slight bias in favour of joint families
Men are predominantly involved in food production; women mainly manage households, a small proportion work for w ages
A small proportion of women work for w ages Men eat first, then women eat
All marriages are arranged with or without consent of the bride and groom, and large dowries are becoming increasingly common
Earlier marriage, around menarche Cannot remarry or divorce
Period of postpartum confinement is extended from 9 months to 1 year. Confinement is the longest for the first birth, shorter subsequently. Natal home is almost always preferred for delivery
Women have very little involvement in household decisions, and have little power to decide Women have virtually no freedom of movement beyond the household domain
Health care is very expensive, and women are unable to decide when to seek health care or to go for health services independently of other household members Poor breastfeeding initiation practices
No intervention in c a s e s of domestic violence Domestic violence is commonly seen a s normal Women have almost no support from natal home