Sex, Gender, Becoming - PULP

Domestic violence in south africa 145
outcome of the VOC process. Very few cases involving domestic violence
have been referred at this level, although a number of other cases have
been, including one of murder.
(c) Post-sentence: A VOC can be held after the imposition of sentence
but this will have no impact on the sentence in a domestic violence case.
There have been no domestic violence referrals in this scenario.
Although the programme does not target victims of domestic violence
specifically, the number of referrals in which domestic violence is an
element has been high (between 70% and 80%) almost since the
inception of the programme. Anecdotal evidence suggests similar
experience in other programmes in South Africa. This would include
cases where a process in terms of the Domestic Violence Act 18 is
pending, or cases where a charge of assault or aggravated assault has
been laid in which the context was that of domestic violence.
4.2 Purpose and approach
The purpose of this study was, within the context of the Restorative
Justice Centre, to explore the domain of victim offender conferencing
to determine how victims of domestic violence had experienced this
process, how the process had unfolded, what victims’ reactions to
the viability of VOC and the agreements are, and what the potential
is for its applicability in the future. Thus, this was an exploratory
study because not much was known about domestic violence victims’
reactions to the process of VOC. 19
The research approach was qualitative in nature. This involves the
richness and diversity of life. Fouche and Delport 20 note that the
qualitative research paradigm refers to research that elicits
participants’ accounts of meaning, experience or perceptions. In this
study, the researchers explored the respondents’ experiences of VOC
from the perspective of victims of domestic violence and what it
meant for them as victims, both now and in the future. Thus, the
respondents’ experiences relate to the qualitative approach.
4.3 Research design and methodology
The qualitative research strategy which was employed was the use of
case studies. Given the sensitive nature of the topic and that the issue
was the experiences of victims of domestic violence in the arena of
18 n 14 above.
19 According to Grinnell, an exploratory study explores a research question about
which little is known; RM Grinnell Social work research and evaluation (1993)
136.
20 C Fouche & CSL Delport ‘Introduction to the research process’ in AS de Vos et al
Research at grass roots. For the social sciences and human service professions
(2002) 77 79.