Eastern Zone DCSA

Most (80%), out of the 16% (48 out of 60 respondents) who
reported having used traditional elders in the past year, stated that
they had been referred by an elder or a family member (Fig 33).
More than half (51%) of the respondents indicated that the cause of
the dispute submitted to the traditional elders for adjudication had
been household violence (Fig 34). During a Key Informant Interview,
The District Court Commissioner also commented on household
violence saying, “Poor living conditions and unemployment are
contributing to the increase in family disputes” 45 .
Respondents were asked what the issue they took to the elders was
and not whether they were victims, male and female respondents
reported household violence with almost identical frequency (Fig
35); therefore this observation should not be used to infer
victimisation rates.
Figure 35: Respondents' account of issues taken to traditional
elders (by gender)
Figure 34: Respondents’ account of the issues taken to traditional
elders
45 District Court Commissioner, Key Informant Interview, Eastern Zone, 16
March 2014
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