BREAKING THE CHAINS: A CALL TO ACTION AGAINST GENDER BASED VIOLENCE IN SOUTH AFRICA

BY ZAYAAN SARLIE

These 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 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.

To effectively combat GBV in South Africa, the government needs to adopt a multi – faceted approach that includes numerous dimensions. When exploring the legislative dimension, it is imperative to note the steps and techniques that have been implemented thus far. As a result of mobilization efforts of women in South Africa, the first presidential summit on GBV and Femicide was held in 2018 as a response to the 24 demands submitted by the #TheTotalShutdown occurred. This saw the South African government beginning to budget towards the implementation of the National Strategic Plan (NSP).

The NSP is multi-sectoral in nature and outlines 6 pillars, namely: Accountability, Coordination and Leadership, Prevention and Rebuilding Social Cohesion, Justice, Safety and Protection, Response, Care, Support and Healing, Economic Power and Research and Information Management. With these pillars, the NSP aims to promote equality of all gender groupings and strategically sets out specific plans to decrease GBV in South Africa.

Since the first Presidential summit, progress has been made but the National Strategic Plan in GBV and Femicide was only officially signed into effect in April 2020. However, the high levels of GBV and the brutal violence against women across all demographics still occurs and is still a serious threat to women’s human rights. As of January 2022, three new GBV laws were signed into the legislation with the aim to strengthen efforts to end GBV.

This includes The Amendment of Criminal Law (Sexual offences and related matters) act – which introduces sexual intimidation as an offence, increases the period that sex offenders need to remain registered and expands both the range of the National Register for Sex Offenders and the list of who is considered vulnerable. The Criminal and Related Matters Act also made changes to the Magistrates Courts Act (1994) - which now sees the provision for the appointment of intermediaries, The Criminal Procedure Act (1997) – that regulates the granting and cancelling of bail and lastly The Superior Courts Act (2013).

Lastly, The Domestic Violence Amendment Bill was introduced to amend the Domestic Violence Act

(1998) to address the practical gaps and challenges that were faced.

The 1st and 2nd of November 2022, marked the second Presidential summit of GBV and Femicide (GBVF) and was held under the theme of “Accountability, Acceleration and Amplification Now!” The main purpose of this summit was to report on work done since the first summit in 2018 along with the successes and challenges that surround GBVF. Despite the steps taken, women in South Africa are still experiencing high levels of violence, thus numerous promises that were made in both 2018 and 2022 remain unfulfilled.

When referring to the statistics it is clear to see that more steps need to be taken as there is still work to be done. Within the 2nd summit, funding was identified as a key challenge in the fight against GBV - however, it should be noted that it is the government that has the primary obligation to tackle GBV. Clear steps to implement the NSP was not outlined nor was there a commitment to transparency, accountability, and fund allocation.

The summit highlighted the need to address masculinity and reiterated the importance of education and awareness but concrete ways to do so were not expressed.

Although there has been some intervention, both the 1st and 2nd Presidential Summits of GBVF has failed to fully indicate a clear timeline and various strategies on how to combat the epidemic that is GBV in South Africa, thus still leaving women with no resolution and the lingering question of “Am I Next?”