Interpersonal violence: patterns in a Basotho community

This study was conducted to quantify the importance of trauma and death due to interpersonal violence in rural Lesotho and to gain an insight into the profile of the assault victims, the circumstances of the violent incidents and the type of weapons wielded and wounds inflicted.

During a one-year period starting June 1988 information was recorded on all patients with assault trauma attending Quthing District Hospital.

The annual incidence rate of assault on men between 20 and 49, the most affected age group, was estimated to be as high as 30 per 1000. The crude homicide rate could reliably be calculated as 44 per 100 000 per year.

The male to female sex ratio amongst the 506 identified victims was 1.7:1. The assailants were male in 89% of the incidents; other men were their victim in 68% of these events. Only 26% of the consulting women suffered at the hands of their husband or partner. Over 55% of injuries (and deaths) inflicted by men were caused by beating with traditional sticks; 15% were due to stabbing. Women used stones, teeth or bare hands and feet equally frequently. The limited presence of firearms may have prevented higher death rates.

It is suggested that the disruption of the social structure of the Basotho society through its dependence on migrant labour leads to weakened normative reference, the moral net, which is the underlying cause for the serious violence problem of the country.