BREAKING THE CHAINS:
A CALL TO ACTION AGAINST GENDER BASED VIOLENCE IN SOUTH AFRICA BY ZAYAAN SARLIE
“I don’t want to die with my hands up or legs open”
T
hese words by activist and feminist Koleka Putuma are a sentiment that women throughout South Africa hold - as the daunting realisation of being raped, assaulted, or dying at the hands of a man is no longer only a possibility, but a matter of time. Gender – Based Violence (GBV) is a prominent and prevalent issue that occurs in both private and public sectors by intimate partners, family, or community members. This term is used to describe the violence that occurs because of the normative gender role expectations that are associated with the sex assigned to an individual, along with the unequal power relations amongst genders. Forms of GBV include physical, verbal, sexual, psychological, and emotional abuse along with threats or acts of
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abuse that may cause deprivations of liberty and harm. It is found in all social classes, cultural groups and societies and is described as a global pandemic of which females are the main victims. The violence against women is not a new phenomenon in South Africa. South Africa is characterised as one of the most unsafe countries, with statistics from Statistics SA showing that sexual violence and rape have become a hyperendemic. Although accurate statistics are difficult to obtain for many reasons, it is evident South Africa has particularly high rates of GBV, with the violence against females being labelled as a crisis and as a betrayal of the constitutional order.
