Role of Women in Perpetuating Violence against Women: Case Studies of Domestic Violence Victims

Abstract

Most of the previous studies conducted in Pakistan highlighted that men perpetuated violence against women. But the present study examined the involvement of women in domestic violence against other women in the family. The study was qualitative in nature and ten in-depth interviews were taken from married women who faced domestic violence. The purposive sampling method was used in which the women belonged to lower-middle socioeconomic class, having duration of marriage more than two years and were living in joint families were selected for the study. The women who were widow, infertile, and had no child were excluded from the study. The data was analyzed thematically. The findings of the study showed that the perpetrators involved in domestic violence were mother-in-law, sister-in-law (nanand), sister-in-law (Jethani or Devrani) and even new bride. It was also found that women mostly involved in domestic violence were in relation of mother-in-law. Moreover, in lower middle socioeconomic status, dowry was the prime reason for perpetrating violence, while power gaining and sharing, no birth of male child and non-performance of household related duties were also reasons for verbal as well as physical violence. The conclusion of the study showed that women were directly or indirectly involved in perpetrating domestic violence against other women in the family.
Keywords: Violence against Women, Women’s Involvement, Socioeconomic Status, Power Sharing, Customs and Traditions

Full text

Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences (PJSS)
Vol. 36, No. 2 (2016), pp. 1185-1195
Role of Women in Perpetuating Violence against Women:
Case Studies of Domestic Violence Victims
Fahad Z. Roomani
M.Phil Scholar
Department of Gender Studies
University of Punjab Lahore
Faiza Tayyab
Lecturer
Department of Gender Studies
University of the Punjab Lahore
faiza.dws@pu.edu.pk
Nudrat Kamal
Lecturer
Department of Gender Studies
University of the Punjab Lahore
nudrat_k@hotmail.com
Kashif Siddique
Lecturer
Department of Gender Studies
Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan
kashif.siddique@bzu.edu.pk
Abstract
Most of the previous studies conducted in Pakistan highlighted that
men perpetuated violence against women. But the present study
examined the involvement of women in domestic violence against other
women in the family. The study was qualitative in nature and ten in-
depth interviews were taken from married women who faced domestic
violence. The purposive sampling method was used in which the women
belonged to lower-middle socioeconomic class, having duration of
marriage more than two years and were living in joint families were
selected for the study. The women who were widow, infertile, and had
no child were excluded from the study. The data was analyzed
thematically. The findings of the study showed that the perpetrators
involved in domestic violence were mother-in-law, sister-in-law
(nanand), sister-in-law (Jethani or Devrani) and even new bride. It was
also found that women mostly involved in domestic violence were in
relation of mother-in-law. Moreover, in lower middle socioeconomic
status, dowry was the prime reason for perpetrating violence, while
power gaining and sharing, no birth of male child and non-
performance of household related duties were also reasons for verbal
as well as physical violence. The conclusion of the study showed that
women were directly or indirectly involved in perpetrating domestic
violence against other women in the family.
Keywords: Violence against Women, Women’s Involvement, Socioeconomic Status,
Power Sharing, Customs and Traditions

1186 Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 36, No. 2
I. Introduction
Violence against women is normally considered an act of violence by men against
women. The focus of national and international media has always been on issues of
violence by men towards women but there is paucity of identifying women’s violence
against women. It is normally conceived as neglecting area. Domestic violence by
women towards their same sex is prevalent in societies and there is now focus in this area
with growing awareness and with the increasing scope of gender based violence.
South Asian societies are patriarchal in nature and violence against women is
generally considered as a normal act but with the growing sensitization of the issue,
emphasis is also on acts of violence by women against women. There is a large body of
literature on the phenomenon of domestic violence highlighting significant involvement
of males (Khan & Hussain, 2008; Löbmann, Greve, Wetzels & Bosold, 2003; RN, 2012;
Yount & Carrera, 2006; Zakar, Zakar & Kramer, 2012) nonetheless, the violence
conducted by women against other women is mostly ignored in the society. It is very
rarely highlighted in the society as sometime it is merely a trivial part of a newspaper in a
single narration that “In-laws burn or kill their daughter-in-law” and in other cases it is
only portrayed as an incident of suicide. Due to the patriarchal set- up of Pakistani society
and general perception; men being a major perpetrator of domestic violence, the culture
prevails shrugs off women’s involvement in such incidents.
Social system of a nation is based on confined culture which is the practical part of
a nation’s theories (Ahmed & Naseem, 2011). South Asian region is a patriarchal region
in the world and social system of sub-continent is heterogeneous (Ahmed & Naseem,
2011). In the society of Pakistan man usually has all the powers in the family; hence the
woman of the family who is closer to the man attains the strongest position and
dominance in the family (Fikree & Bhatti, 1999). When the son gets married, his time
and attention gets divided in between his mother and wife this in many cases distresses
mothers.
Abuse of women by intimate male partners and partner’s family members are the
most endemic form of violence against women. Studies investigating in-laws’
involvement in domestic abuse in Pakistan are silent on this issue, however, within India,
there is an evidence of women’s violence against women in a variety of contexts. These
include female infanticide, or the selective abortion of female fetuses, where the mother
and other female relatives of the girl child are most likely to be the perpetrators. Indian
women are seen as auspicious and enjoy an elevated status within the household when
they are mothers of sons, but are often treated with contempt when they give birth to
daughters (Sudha & Irudaya Rajan, 1999).
It is seen that mother-in-law are often arrested and convicted in cases of dowry-
related deaths (Palkar, 2003). One source on domestic violence in India states that since
2006, over 123,497 women, primarily mothers-in-law, have been arrested for dowry-
related murders (Domestic violence awareness website, 2009). Indian studies indicate
that 33% to 40% of domestic violence cases include the wider household, including
female relatives of the husband as perpetrators or instigators of violence. Even where it
does not culminate in death, many young Indian married women often suffer violence at

Fahad Z. Roomani, Faiza Tayyab, Nudrat Kamal, Kashif Siddique 1187
the hands of their mothers-in-law. (Dave & Solanki, 2000; Panchanadeswaran &
Koverola, 2005).
Similarly in Pakistan, there are cultural institutions, beliefs and practices that
weaken women’s autonomy and contribute to gender-based violence. Evil practices in
marriage can disadvantage women, especially when customs such as dowry and bride’s
price, Watta Satta and marriage to the Quran exist. In recent years dowry has become the
expected part of marriage. This increasing demand for dowry, both before and after
marriage, can rise into harassment, physical violence and emotional abuse. The outcomes
of dowry are wife battering, bride burning by in-laws and mental torture which may
result into psychological distress and disorders (Meinzen, 1980).In extreme cases
homicide or “stove-burns” and suicides can provide husbands an opportunity to pursue
another marriage and consequently more dowry (Niaz, 2004). In this entire context the
role of man is only highlighted but the role of woman in violence is always ignored.
After marriage the relationship between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is
direct and raw. The mother-in-law disparages her daughter-in-law, blames her for being
idle and lazy, accuses her of being greedy, and criticizes her cooking. The groom’s
mother in the early days of her son’s marriage gives clear indications of both her grasping
nature and her power position (Levy & Zumwalt, 2012).Apart from this, there is also
evidence reported in India that in some cases domestic violence provisions are being
misused by daughters-in-law to harass their aged in-laws and innocent husbands
(Gangoli, 2007). It has been argued that there has been an increase in cases where the
daughter-in-law, sometimes in complicity with the husband, files false complaints of
domestic violence against the aged mother-in-law in order to drive her out of her home.
In this sense, the young woman is seen to blackmail her husband’s family (Kishwar,
2000).
We can see that in comparison to India, Pakistan does not have such a literature
which shows the involvement of women in violence. This is an indication which shows
that society keep a blind eye on this issue. This is the reason that despite of growing
awareness and discourse on the issue, the issue remains in the society. If the issue is to be
rooted out, there is a great need that female to female violence should be given equal
importance as the male to female violence has always been given.
The Objectives of the study are;
 To study the involvement of women relatives in inflicting violence on women.
 To investigate the distribution of power relations between victims and perpetrators
within family unit.
 To investigate violence against women between larger social structures and its
practice in households.
 To analyze effects of violence on victims.
The Research Questions are;
 To study the involvement of women relatives in inflicting violence on women
victims.

1188 Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 36, No. 2
o Do the women relatives only participate in provoking males to inflict violence on
victims or is there direct involvement in violence?
o Are they involved in physical beating or is it only verbal abuse they bring to
women victims?
 To investigate the distribution of power relations between victims and perpetrators
within family unit.
o How the power has been distributed between perpetrators and the victims of
violence within household.
o How is the exercise of power justified by the perpetrators to inflict violence?
 To highlight the linkages of violence against women between larger social
structures and its practice in households.
o How does the social structure of Pakistan position married women in households
which lead towards the culture of violence against women?
This study is helpful for understanding the role of women in patriarchal society
and practices conducted by women to women. It explores the attitude of women in
different roles at family level. It also defines how much women could be the part of
violence at domestic level and how it affects other women’s lives.
II. Data and Methodology
A. Type of Research
This research is qualitative in nature; data was collected from the victims of
violence through in-depth personal interviews. The instrument was an interview guide to
study the reasons for the violence and its effect on victims’ life.
B. Population and Sample
The female victims of domestic violence belonging to lower-middle class families
were population of the current study. The average monthly income of respondents ranges
between (3000-18000) Pakistani Rupee (PKR). Most of the victims belonged to joint
family system. The in-laws and families of most of the victims were illiterate. Most of the
victims were married in their early teens. Mostly the female victims had arranged
marriages as per will of their parents.
C. Sample Size & Sampling Technique
Twenty five people were approached as sample of the study by using purposive
sampling technique, among which hardly ten people cooperated through different means.
The purposive sampling method was used to target those women who had experienced
violence by other female relatives in their lives. The motive of this research wasn’t only
to go through one relation, instead different female to female relations were considered
under this research.
D. Field Experience
It wasn’t possible to meet personally all of the respondents for interviews due to
the sensitivity of the issue under investigation; a woman victim was not feeling
comfortable while taking interview by a male interviewer. It wasn’t easy task at all.
Respondents refused to give interviews therefore; female co-workers/ friends conducted
most of the interviews. But a major problem faced was that the victims hesitated even in
front of female interviewers. Somehow this problem was solved after discussion but

Fahad Z. Roomani, Faiza Tayyab, Nudrat Kamal, Kashif Siddique 1189
some victims even then refused to give the interviews in the mid. Then again we
explained everything and assured them that this interview would not affect their lives
negatively and was only being conducted for research purpose. Respondents were
approached from different areas such as Halloki village, Tejgarh, Shadrah, Dharampura,
Salamatpura, Defence area and SaghiyanPul. It took almost 2 months to conduct ten in-
depth personal interviews.
III. Results and Discussion
A. Beginning of violence
The respondents reported initiation of violence within a week after marriage.
There was a respondent who revealed that in her case the mental violence was began
even before the ceremony of marriage, when the dowry was sent to her in-laws and not
found up to their expectations. She reported unwelcoming and taunting behavior on the
very first day of marriage by mother-in-law and sisters-in-law. In other cases, the
respondents said that the violence started with verbal abuse on petty issues like
performing household chores and dowry within a week of marriage. This abuse was
directly from mother and sisters-in-law in most of the cases. The direct verbal abuse by
them was followed by complaining to the husband of the respondents which resulted in
physical violence by them. In some cases, it was also noted that females were abused by
mothers-in-law due to the marriage against their will. In these cases respondents faced
verbal and emotional violence from the first day of their marriage at the hand of their
mothers-in-law. There were also cases in which daughter-in-laws inflicted violence
within a few weeks of marriage. Hence, the victim of domestic violence was not only the
“daughters-in- law” rather it could also be “mothers and sisters-in-law”.
B. Perpetrator
According to the outcome of this study; the perpetrators of violence against
women within a family were in different relations with one another. In some cases the
perpetrators were “mother-in-law and her female relatives and Sister-in-law “Nanand”,
whereas, in other cases new bride herself was involved in conducting violence against
mother-in-law and sister-in-law. Moreover, there were cases in which “Jethani” (wife of
husband’s elder brother) or “Devrani” (wife of husband’s younger brother) was a
perpetrator against new bride. There were also some cases in which the two “Jethani”
and “Dewrani” were involved in intriguing and inflicting violence against each other.
C. Role of Mother-In-Law (Saas)
In cases where mothers-in-law were perpetrators, there was common finding that
they had feelings of losing their sons to their daughters-in-law this culminated into envy
and jealousy against daughters-in-law. Moreover, in many cases mothers-in-law found
their selves insecure due to son’s favor to wives and going against their mothers. This
created insecurity among mothers-in-law against their daughters-in-law. This situation
propelled mothers-in-law to inflict verbal abuse against daughters-in-law. It was also
found that violence was inflicted in the context of power sharing; mothers-in-law were
found to conduct violence when daughters-in-law shared power before solely enjoyed by
her. This power sharing included decision making in household chores. This perpetration
of violence was usually reported in the early period of marriage. After some period, this
verbal abuse, in some cases transformed into physical violence directly inflicted by
mother-in-law.

1190 Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 36, No. 2
One respondent illustrated her experience as,
“I was feeding my son when my mother-in-law asked for lunch, I could
not fulfill her demand as the young baby was crying for feed, on my
reluctance, my mother-in-law asked my sister-in-law to slap me on my
face for disobeying her”.
In another case, respondent told,
“My mother and sister-in-law used to verbally abuse me for not
bringing sufficient dowry. One day they came to me when I was
preparing meal, they pulled my hair and pushed my face on the burning
pan”.
There were two cases in which mother-in-law along with female complicit was
involved in violence, however, in many cases mother-in-law incited and provoked their
sons who most of the time inflicted physical violence along with verbal abuse. In one
case the mother-in-law instigated and emotionally blackmailed her son that if he loved
her mother then he had to divorce his wife it led him to torture his wife mentally and
physically.
Apart from many cases where mothers-in-law involved their sons to directly
conduct violence against wives, there were cases in which mother-in-law covertly
inflicted violence. One of the respondents narrated,
“My mother-in-law tried to remain good in the eyes of everyone. In
front of her son she treated me very nicely, but in his absence she did
false accusation against me which led fighting’s between us. The
mother-in-law told her secrets to me and asked not to tell it to anyone.
At the same time mother-in-law told that secret to her own son by
saying that your wife knew this secret already. When my husband asked
me about the secret, I negated it as per the recommendation of my
mother-in-law. Therefore, my husband beat me”.
D. Role of Sister(s)-in-Law (Nanand)
The present study found that in cases where sisters-in-law (nanands) were
perpetrators of violence it was common whether they were divorcee or visiting mother’s
house temporarily due to dispute with their husbands. In many cases these women were
directly involved in inflicting violence which was only of verbal nature. In other cases
sisters-in-law were not directly involved rather only accomplice of violence along with
their mothers. One of the respondents narrated, “My sister-in-law made false accusation
against me. My husband believed his own blood and started mistreating me.”
E. Violence of Sisters-in-Law (Jethani or Devrani) towards New bride
The violence wasn’t limited to any specific relation, even it was found among
daughters-in-law of the same house. One of the respondents narrated,
“Not only my mother and sisters-in-law mistreated me; instead I was
treated very badly by the wives of my husband’s brothers. The wife of
husband’s elder brother (Jethani) made good relation with her mother-

Fahad Z. Roomani, Faiza Tayyab, Nudrat Kamal, Kashif Siddique 1191
in-law by giving her gifts. She then used her mother-in-law to create
propaganda against the new bride, in order to be superior to her in the
house”.
One of the respondent stated, “Two of the sons of a family were married in the
same family. Therefore their wives had very good understanding between them, as they
were sisters. When the third son got married to a girl who was new to them, they both
made an alliance against her to let her down and maintain their superior position and
dominance in the family”.
F. Violence of the New Bride Against her in-Laws
Similar to mothers and sisters-in-law involvement in violence, there were also
couple of cases in which new bride was involved in such violence. New bride as a
daughter- in -law inflicted violence against her mother –in- law and also against her
sister-in-law. In these cases, it was commonly observed that the marriage was love-
marriage and that the son/brother had close inclination towards his wife.
One of the respondents stated,
“The bhabhi (Brother’s wife) used to abuse me. I used to do all the
household work, but the new bride frequently tortured me mentally as
well as physically by saying that I didn’t participate in any of the house
hold work”.
In these cases bride’s mother and sisters spent most of the time at the new bride’s
house. Meanwhile they all mistreated the sister of the groom, and when the groom came
home; they all started to turn him against his family by false accusations. In one case they
even said that the husband’s sister had a bad character and she had affairs with other
boys. In addition, sister-in-law was also involved in break up between brother and sister
(Nanand) and impeding her from attending college.
G. Justification of Violence by the Perpetrators
The present study reported that the perpetrators weren’t guilty of their violent acts
rather they had strong justification of their acts. The most common justification reported
by respondents, no matter in what relation inflicting violence, was the family background
of violence. Most of the mothers-in-law while conducting verbal or physical violence
repeatedly referred to the violence faced by themselves in the hand of their own mothers-
in-law. Likewise sisters-in-law involved in such violence on the new bride were facing
such violence in their own in-laws.
One of the respondents also told that the attitude of in-laws was not good with her,
and whenever she complaint, she was insulted and advised by the mother-in-law as,
“I had also faced such things after my marriage so; you should also
face those hardships from which I had gone through. You are not the
only one experiencing all this. You should remain patient as I was.
Your husband is at least in favor of you. He takes you for outing
whereas my husband was not like that, but still I never complaint”.

1192 Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 36, No. 2
H. Role of Customs & Traditions in violence
The following factors based on customs & traditions were found to play a vital
role in the violence:
Dowry
The most common factor involved in inflicting violence was related to demands
and expectations of dowry. The most common perpetrator in this context was mothers-in-
law. The demand of dowry in many cases was forwarded pre-marriage. Most of the
respondents narrated that their family fulfilled the demand of dowry before marriage, but
still they were insulted by mothers-in-law that the dowry was either less or not good
enough. The violence accelerated as the mothers-in-law compared the given dowry with
the dowry of other females of the family. Mother-in-law was often said that there was no
need to bring this low-class dowry (which was no low-class in reality, rather to make
excuse for demand of more).
Male-Issue preference and Delay in the birth of child
Under this theme it was observed that bride faced violence for whether having
no child in early period of marriage or having no male-issue. In these cases, mothers-in-
law were mostly involved in violence which was often limited to verbal abuse only. One
of the respondents stated that she had one baby boy and then she didn’t have any other
child for a few years. For this she was often insulted by the in-laws that she was not able
to produce more than one child. Hence, her husband should get married again. Similarly,
if a woman had a female child only then she faced violence for not having a male child.
IV. Discussion
The main findings of our research showed that women were involved in inflicting
domestic violence against women. These women were also involved in initiating violence
which might begin even before or within a week of wedding. The perpetrators were not
confined to one specific relation rather mother-in-law, sister-in-law (nanand), sister-in-
law (Jethani or Devrani) and even new bride herself were involved in inflicting violence
on female members before and after marriage. Our research also found that mother-in-
law was the one who was mostly involved in such violence while such violence was
mainly found to be in the form of verbal abuse. However, this verbal abuse could lead to
provoking male members to inflict physical violence against either wife or sisters. In
some cases females themselves were involved in physical violence. In addition, this study
showed that dowry was the foremost reason for perpetrating violence against women,
while power gaining and sharing, delay in birth of child or male-issue and non-
performance of household chores were also reasons for verbal abuse and physical
violence. Our findings also observed that the female violence against female was justified
on the pretext of history of facing violence by perpetrators themselves. It was also found
that it brought physical and psychological health effects on women and their children and
also deteriorated relationship of wife and husband.
The first major theme of the present study explained the initiation of violence by
female members which could happen even before marriage. In domestic violence both
males and females were involved (Holden, 2003). Furthermore, it has been found in
Europe and North America that men and women were equally involved in committing
domestic violence (Straus, 2004), however, males were more to resort to physical

Fahad Z. Roomani, Faiza Tayyab, Nudrat Kamal, Kashif Siddique 1193
violence as compared to females (Swan et al. 2008). Literature further explained it by
highlighting the normalization of violence in the societies. The majority of the people
were unaware of what violence actually was, they considered this violence as their fate
and normal part of their life (Bergua, 1961). Literature also pointed out that even in case
where women were aware of domestic violence and resisted it sometimes became more
vulnerable to such violence at the hand of husband and husband’s family (Noughani &
Mohtashami, 2011). Literature further explained the initiation of domestic violence by
women against new bride; women facing violence often highlighted the interference of
their spouse’s relatives including mother and sister-in-law (Pena et al., 2012). The
reasons revealed, of the violence were new bride was not fulfilling their expectations as a
new member of the family as well as showing inadequate performance as a housewife.
Secondly, primarily the perpetrators in the present study were mothers-in-law who
were found to inflict violence due to power-control and power-sharing. The complex set
of relations between the daughter-in-law and the mother-in-law emerged from the fixed
structure of relationships. The mother-in-law felt that she was losing her son to her
daughter-in-law and she might be jealous of the power that her daughter-in-law enjoyed
over her son. This complex web of relations involved emotional ties, situated power and
control in the household and the threat of power loss and control (Bergan, 1961). Our
findings supported the literature review as findings also revealed that mother-in-law
resorted to verbal abuse and physical violence when her power was threatened and she
felt that she was losing control over her son.
In addition to this, our findings also found that it was not always mother-in-law
who perpetrates violence against new bride but daughters-in-law were also involved in
such violence either against their mothers-in-law or sisters-in-law. Another study
supported our findings and stated that there had been an increase in cases where the
daughter-in-law, sometimes in complicity with the husband, filed false complaints of
domestic violence against the aged mother-in-law in order to drive her out of her home
(Kishwar, 2000). In this sense, the young woman was seen to cause violence against
female members in her husband’s family.
The present study also reported the reasons for such violence; from the part of
mothers-in-law it was mainly a little dowry which was the cause of violence against new
brides. Dowry has traditionally been understood to be gifts by parents to daughters,
however, in many cases the dowry was controlled by wider household, and the bride had
little or no access to the dowry (Rudd, 2001). The second foremost factor related to such
violence was child-birth; women could face violence due to having no child immediately
or for not having male-child as well as not more than one male-child (Safder et al., 2007).
This all could cause her to face verbal and physical violence at the hands of mothers-in-
law. In some cases if one daughter-in-law was deprived of a baby boy and other
daughter-in-law was blessed with baby boy then the blessed one was close to her mother-
in-law and enjoyed the supreme position in the family.
This study also reported that women who were involved in such violence had prior
history of facing the same violence particularly mothers-in-law who had been facing the
same behaviors from their mother-in-laws. Literature review supported our findings as
articulate that exposure to domestic violence made it a normal act for the one who

1194 Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 36, No. 2
experienced it (Anderson & Kras, 2007; Straus & Yodanis, 1996). These finding also
found such statements in which mothers-in-law mentioned that violence was justified
because they also experienced it at the hand of their own mothers-in-law.
V. Conclusion
Present study concluded that women were directly involved in perpetrating
domestic violence against other women in the family. On the other hand, women were
also involved in inciting the male members to resort to violence against other female
members out of her jealousy or insecurity. Though hidden, the phenomenon of female to
female violence was prevailing in the social fabric of families. The enormous stress over
“male to female” violence was not the adequate strategy to root out domestic violence
against women rather the involvement of women must be acknowledged in such
violence. The female to female violence was rarely highlighted and no radical steps were
taken to control it in the society. The causes of domestic violence in case of female to
female violence should be highlighted and adequate measures should be taken to control
the occurrence of domestic violence.
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