Abstract
A common form of employment for low-income third world women is domestic work. The power dynamics in this type of employer-employee relationship may place women at risk for abuse. Our aim in conducting this qualitative inquiry was to describe the experiences of violence in the lives of young female domestic workers in Malawi, a small country in South East Africa. Forty-eight women participated in focus group and individual interviews. "Surviving" was the main theme identified, with women employing creative ways of surviving the challenges they met at various points in their lives. This study provides information that health care professionals could use in assisting women through the process of surviving.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 783-801 |
| Number of pages | 19 |
| Journal | Health Care for Women International |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 2009 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This study was made possible by funding from the following: The Compton Foundation (Compton Peace Fellowship); the University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Nursing (Eckburg Scholarship for Dissertation Research); the Graduate School at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (Vilas Travel Grant); the Nurses Foundation of Wisconsin; the Beta Eta Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau; University of Wisconsin-Madison (Scott Kloeck Jenson Travel Grant). The authors are grateful to the women who took time to participate in the study. The authors also are thankful to Dr. Mary Keller, Dr. Patricia Stevens, Dr. Stanlie James, Dr. Pamela Ironside, and Dr. Nadine Nehls for their helpful comments that led to the completion of this article. Appreciation also goes to Ms. Patricia Walsh, who assisted in the editing of this article.