The upcoming 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children runs from 25 November until 10 December and aims to reinforce the call for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls.
The theme for this year’s 16 Days of Activism campaign is ‘UNITE! Activism to end violence against women and girls.’ Related to this theme is the United Nations secretary-general’s UNiTE by 2030 to End Violence against Women campaign (UNiTE campaign).
The SA government explains that “the 16 Days campaign forms the centre point of government’s comprehensive 365 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children”, and forms part of a so-called emergency response to the scourge of gender-based violence in South Africa.
It is clear that violence against women and girls continues unabated, not only in SA but worldwide. In SA, between October and December of 2021, a total of 11,315 people, primarily women and girls, were raped.
This amounts to more than 11,000 reported cases of rape within a period of only three months, according to police statistics). However, according to the Rape Survivor’s Justice Campaign, approximately only 7,7% of sexual offences are reported, thus putting the actual number of sexual offence cases at an estimated 645,580 a year. In addition, there are on average of 2,763 murders of women in SA a year, which is approximately seven women per day. This places SA in the top five countries in the world regarding femicide.
It is necessary to understand that gender-based violence, particularly sexual violence, is used as a means of social control: to control the movement and behaviour of women, as well as to uphold patriarchal and hetero-normative norms and ideologies.
This social control is rife in SA where GBV and sexual violence occur at alarming rates and where the violence is often enacted very publicly and graphically (as seen particularly in cases of lesbophobic rape). It serves to remind women that they are vulnerable to such violence. Rape, as such, becomes a very effective means through which to ‘keep women in check’ and often leads to them changing their behaviour or movements so as to avoid such violence.
What is clear, is that we cannot rely on ineffective and often-patriarchal justice systems in order to address GBV or to protect women and girls from the scourge.
In SA there are many organisations, including Powa, Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust, and the Tears Foundation (among many others) that work tirelessly to provide support and advocacy to survivors of sexual and gender-based violence. For example, Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust reports that between March 2021 and March 2022, “9,650 survivors and their supporters received direct services from Rape Crisis".
The support and advocacy work help survivors to access post-violence medical and mental health support, file police reports, access courts, and receive support throughout legal proceedings. Furthermore, such organisations educate to address toxic gender ideologies and debunk myths around rape and sexual violence.
However, we should not solely rely on organisations to do this work. We all need to be aware of our own actions and words and the ways in which they might contribute to a culture in which violence against women and girls is acceptable; call out the behaviour and actions of others; assist organisations providing support and advocacy; and hold the government accountable to ensure it develops and implements plans and procedures for addressing violence against women and girls in South Africa.
Perhaps, however, it is also time that we take to the streets – as we are seeing in Iran – to demand better conditions for women, girls, and other marginalised communities. We need to unite to create a country in which women and girls have a future that is free from the ever-present threat of violence. We need to demand an effective justice system that holds (primarily) men accountable for their actions. We need to make it clear that we will no longer allow the complacency and lack of urgency shown by the government in addressing violence against women and girls. We need to UNITE in demanding a country that is safe for women and girls!
• Dr Claire Stephanie Westman, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Free State Centre for Human Rights, University of the Free State
CLAIRE STEPHANIE WESTMAN | Unite to make SA safer for women and girls
Time to address toxic behaviour
Image: Brenton Geach
The upcoming 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children runs from 25 November until 10 December and aims to reinforce the call for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls.
The theme for this year’s 16 Days of Activism campaign is ‘UNITE! Activism to end violence against women and girls.’ Related to this theme is the United Nations secretary-general’s UNiTE by 2030 to End Violence against Women campaign (UNiTE campaign).
The SA government explains that “the 16 Days campaign forms the centre point of government’s comprehensive 365 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children”, and forms part of a so-called emergency response to the scourge of gender-based violence in South Africa.
It is clear that violence against women and girls continues unabated, not only in SA but worldwide. In SA, between October and December of 2021, a total of 11,315 people, primarily women and girls, were raped.
This amounts to more than 11,000 reported cases of rape within a period of only three months, according to police statistics). However, according to the Rape Survivor’s Justice Campaign, approximately only 7,7% of sexual offences are reported, thus putting the actual number of sexual offence cases at an estimated 645,580 a year. In addition, there are on average of 2,763 murders of women in SA a year, which is approximately seven women per day. This places SA in the top five countries in the world regarding femicide.
It is necessary to understand that gender-based violence, particularly sexual violence, is used as a means of social control: to control the movement and behaviour of women, as well as to uphold patriarchal and hetero-normative norms and ideologies.
This social control is rife in SA where GBV and sexual violence occur at alarming rates and where the violence is often enacted very publicly and graphically (as seen particularly in cases of lesbophobic rape). It serves to remind women that they are vulnerable to such violence. Rape, as such, becomes a very effective means through which to ‘keep women in check’ and often leads to them changing their behaviour or movements so as to avoid such violence.
What is clear, is that we cannot rely on ineffective and often-patriarchal justice systems in order to address GBV or to protect women and girls from the scourge.
In SA there are many organisations, including Powa, Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust, and the Tears Foundation (among many others) that work tirelessly to provide support and advocacy to survivors of sexual and gender-based violence. For example, Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust reports that between March 2021 and March 2022, “9,650 survivors and their supporters received direct services from Rape Crisis".
The support and advocacy work help survivors to access post-violence medical and mental health support, file police reports, access courts, and receive support throughout legal proceedings. Furthermore, such organisations educate to address toxic gender ideologies and debunk myths around rape and sexual violence.
However, we should not solely rely on organisations to do this work. We all need to be aware of our own actions and words and the ways in which they might contribute to a culture in which violence against women and girls is acceptable; call out the behaviour and actions of others; assist organisations providing support and advocacy; and hold the government accountable to ensure it develops and implements plans and procedures for addressing violence against women and girls in South Africa.
Perhaps, however, it is also time that we take to the streets – as we are seeing in Iran – to demand better conditions for women, girls, and other marginalised communities. We need to unite to create a country in which women and girls have a future that is free from the ever-present threat of violence. We need to demand an effective justice system that holds (primarily) men accountable for their actions. We need to make it clear that we will no longer allow the complacency and lack of urgency shown by the government in addressing violence against women and girls. We need to UNITE in demanding a country that is safe for women and girls!
• Dr Claire Stephanie Westman, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Free State Centre for Human Rights, University of the Free State
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