On male dominance and gender inequality, another participant articulated the following: “Women have to kneel down in front of a man when they greet him, give him something, or talk to him. This is considered as a sign of respect” (ibid) Inherent in such kind of traditional behaviour and practice is the belief that men are superior, dominant, powerful, and therefore must be shown respect. The act of “kneeling” can be interpreted as acknowledgement by women of all this, as well as a sign of powerlessness and submissiveness. In order to confirm that male dominance was chronic in their communities, one participant expressed her views on this issue in this way: “The husband is the head of the family. He is the one with a voice. He controls land. He makes all decisions. A woman is always powerless. She does not have any power at all in terms of decision making. Although women are the most active in generating family wealth, hardly do they have powers to determine how that wealth should be used” (ibid). According to one participant from Igunga, cases of some men using the wealth generated by their wife/wives to marry another woman are common. In terms of decision making, the majority of the women seemed to agree that most men tended to despise women by saying things like: “You are just a woman; I am the one who decides and not you” (FGD Kibondo, emphasis added). All of the women who participated in the discussions understand that gender inequality has far reaching implications with regard to violence against women and children. For example there was a consensus among women that due to gender inequality coercive sex was rampant. One participant had this to say: “It is the men who decide who to have sex with, when and how. A woman is not allowed to refuse. And if she does, she risks violent reactions” Evidence derived from the discussions with women in all three districts confirms that women suffer a double-edged sword. On the one hand they have to shoulder the responsibility of staying with and taking care of children. On the other hand, it becomes difficult for women to carry this responsibility well in a situation where they do not control family resources. In this situation not only women suffer, but also their children. It has a tremendously negative impact on the welfare of their children. This is particularly so in a household where the father does not seriously consider the social welfare of his children. Basic family resources are likely to be squandered at the expense of children’s health, education and clothing and provision of good housing. The neglect of children by parents is, in most cases, a result of this legacy. One participant lamented the lack of responsibility of men to their children in this way: “Akina baba wengi wanachojua ni kuzaa tu na siyo kulea” (What most fathers know is how to make a woman conceive, but not how to care for the children)
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