OPINION | Govt must take lead and work with civil society to make our communities safer for women, kids

November 7 and 8 marked a significant milestone in the global effort to end violence against children: the First Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence against Children in Bogotá, Colombia. The conference was attended by more than 130 governments including SA's minister of social development Nokuzola Tolashe.

As we observe 16 days of activism to end violence against women and children, we ask if SA can deliver on its promises. And if fulfilled, will these pledges be enough to end violence?

The scale of the problem is alarming. The Human Sciences Research Council recently released sobering statistics on violence in SA. They found that more than a third (35,5%) of adult women experienced some form of gender-based violence (GBV) in their lifetime, with even higher experiences of physical abuse as children by both men (74,6%) and women (58%).

The global conference promoted three “breakthrough” strategies: parent and caregiver support; safe school settings; and response services for child victims of violence. Though these are all key strategies, a missing element was the intersections of violence against women and children. Here in SA like elsewhere, there is a growing recognition of how these different forms of violence are intimately connected.

This year’s 16 days of activism campaign emphasises the promotion of positive masculinity and gender equity, alongside the creation of economic opportunities for women. These address critical drivers of GBV, but violence is complex, and there is no easy solution or quick fix, it requires sustained efforts for us to make headway. 

Under the leadership of President Cyril Ramaphosa, SA crafted a National Strategic Plan (NSP) on gender-based violence and femicide, with the recognition that “our country is deeply traumatised by violence against women and children. This violence is a betrayal of our constitution”.

The NSP is the country’s road map to end GBV, grounded in six pillars – the second pillar focuses on prevention and aims to address behavioural and structural drivers of GBV. There is an assumption that there is a willingness and readiness across society to transform the patriarchal norms that drive GBV, but this requires us to create a social environment that is underpinned by cohesion and common purpose.

In the president’s Women’s Day address in August, he called on all men to change their behaviour and attitudes and not to raise their hands against women.

Gender-based violence does not exist in a vacuum, it is a manifestation of long-standing gender inequality and patriarchy as a system of power that drives both violence against women and children. These deep-rooted social norms that underpin GBV need to be addressed urgently and head-on.

Therein lies the problem – the lack of political will. Most men and women in positions of power still uphold traditional patriarchal values, as a result, gender transformation merely consists of words in policy documents. These policies have not changed women’s lived experience of safety from violence or how the system (criminal justice, health and social development) supports women and children who have experienced violence.

And feminist activists who call out those in power for committing acts of gendered violence have experienced a strong backlash. The policy is not fulfilling the constitutional rights to equality and to be free from violence in the home and community, which will remain “paper rights” until gender beliefs, attitudes and behaviours change are addressed.

There is an urgent need to shift gears to invest in initiatives proven to prevent GBV. The evidence is clear that violence against women and violence against children are inextricably linked. This deep relationship drives an intergenerational cycle of violence as these problems co-occur in the same homes and are driven by the same social gendered norms that perpetuate these forms of violence.

These intersections need to be considered in our policies and strategies. Though the NSP notes the importance of prevention of violence against children, the central focus is women with children at the margins. A life course understanding of violence is important to break this intergenerational cycle of violence, with both women and children central to all prevention efforts.

Successful programmes to address violence against women and children must challenge social norms about gender relations and the use of violence.

For example, parenting and caregiver support programmes need to incorporate gender transformation, greater communication and shared decision-making among family members. School-based programmes targeting young people have great potential to tackle multiple forms of violence and gender norms early in life before norms are entrenched. Introducing trauma-informed approaches reduces the intergenerational transmission of violence.

We can no longer rely on donor funding to drive our strategy for prevention, the government must take the lead and work with civil society to make our communities safer for women and children.

• Mathews is a professor of public health in the department of paediatrics and child health, faculty of health sciences at the University of Cape Town.
• Jamieson is a senior researcher at the Children's Institute at UCT.