How does change come? I was having a conversation with someone this week who noted that within a generation the expectations around women in Tanzania have changed. The examples he gave were two things that feature a lot in human rights advocacy in Tanzania: girls’ education, and domestic violence. Girls’ […]
A TAFES Associate who is also a psychologist posted on her Facebook profile about why a man might beat (but not kill) his wife. She wasn’t trying to give justification for it, but to unpack what his assumptions or mental situation might be. The reasons listed were: he might do […]
When I was a little girl and I did something wrong, my instinct was always to justify on the basis that I was provoked, or one of my sisters did something worse…. “But she…” or “But what about her?” My mum would ask me, “Who are we talking about here […]
In the last post I suggested that Tanzanians do not necessarily view hierarchy as inherently abusive, in contrast to how I and many westerners think. So if hierarchy is not abusive, what is? How do you define abuse? Here I try to process some of the factors involved in this […]
Cards on the table: I belong at least loosely in the complementarian camp, though most people we meet are surprised by that, which is either an indictment of Arthur and me as complete hypocrites, or a wonderful compliment because in our view, good complementarians should look like egalitarians (and the […]
Perhaps you saw the Herald Sun article about the wife beater awarded for bravery? It came to my attention through Melinda Tankard Reist’s blog. For those unfamiliar with the case, here’s a quick rundown. Paul McCuskey is currently serving a 5.5 year sentence for intentionally causing serious injury: his violence […]
Meet Jesus at uni 