#16DaysofActivism: Speak out against abuse

November 25 marked the starting point of the annual 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children, which aims to create awareness, mobilise and reinforce the prevention and elimination of gender-based violence.

This year’s national theme for the campaign, which runs until December 10, is Socio-Economic Rights and Empowerment to build Women’s Resilience against Gender Based Violence and Femicide: Connect, Collaborate, Contract!

Despite all the work done to prevent and respond to the scourge of GBV, in South Africa the situation remains a cause for concern as seen in the latest crime statistics. It revealed that at least 989 women were killed in SA in three months (from July 1 to September 30).
Delivering the country’s crime statistics for July to September this year, Police Minister Bheki Cele said many of these killed women were murdered by the people they know, love and trust.

In addition to that, a total of at least 13 000 women were victims of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, while 1 277 women were victims of attempted murder during the three months period.
Furthermore, between July and September this year, over 10 000 cases of rape were reported, and 294 children were murdered during the three months period.

Reports by the Boksburg police and Reiger Park Crisis Centre show that communities continue to experience a worrying trend of GBV, and most of these reported cases are domestic violence related, with the majority of the perpetrators being males.

According to the Reiger Park Crisis Centre manager, Elaine Appies, the centre, which serves Reiger Park, Delmore Park, Delmore Gardens, Ramaphosa, the nearby informal settlements and surrounding communities, experiences high levels of domestic violence cases throughout the year.
“Most of these incidents are fueled by drugs and alcohol abuse.
“We deal with a number of cases where the victims are physically or emotionally abused at the hands of close family members, friends or someone known to the family of the victim. Such cases tend to increase during this time of the year (festive season), probably because of financial stress,” she said.

The Boksburg SAPS Social Crime Prevention Unit’s Constable Nyembe pointed out that they deal with a number of domestic violence incidents, and most of them come from informal settlements where women and children are physically abused by their own families.
“In the latest incident, an eight-year-old was severely beaten by a parent. The child had to be admitted to hospital for almost a week before being taken to a place of safety by social workers.”

Financial dependence traps women
Both Nyembe and Appies said one of the stumbling blocks in dealing with these types of cases is that in most instances the victims refuse to open a case against the perpetrator because the abuser has the economic power in the household.

“We have found that in many cases the women’s dependence remains a barrier to leaving the abusive relationship or seeking help, while others opt to stay in the violent relationships because of the children or their economic hardship.

Regardless, they vowed to continue creating awareness on GBV and educate people on the available options they can use to escape abusive relationships.
Appies said the strategies to end violence against women and children also need to have a strong focus on improving women’s economic security.

“People need to know about their rights and the resources available to them to escape toxic relationships.
“There are organisations or facilities that provide support to victim-survivors when they make the decision to leave any form of an abusive relationship or intimate partner violence. These include both physical violence and emotional abuse such as coercive control and financial abuse.”

Appies stated that although great strides have been made to tackle the problem, more work still needs to be done, especially within the criminal justice system to curb GBV.

“I think our police in particular need to be empowered with the necessary skills to deal with the different types of abuse, like emotionally abusive, controlling behaviours, and harassment.
“In some instances, you find that they struggle where there is no physical evidence to prove that the victim had been abused or is being abused by the partner.
“They need to understand that not all family violence is physical. Emotional and psychological abuse doesn’t leave open wounds, cuts, bruises and broken bones, but they have damaging effects.

“Men are also sometimes victims of emotional abuse in their households, but they don’t talk about it.”
The police and the NGO called upon all victims of abuse and residents who experience or witness any form of abuse, be it physical violence, or non-physical violence, to report it or seek help.

Appies pointed out that as part of their 16 Days of Activism campaign, they recently held an event aimed at creating awareness of hate crimes and discrimination against members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Reflecting on the dangers that members of the LGBTQIA+ community are facing, Appies stated that there are instances where teenagers are discriminated against or disowned by their parents due to their sexual orientation.
“We have a programme that looks into the issues affecting the LGBTQIA+ community, where we provide the necessary services to help families to accept their children.”

Also Read: #16DaysofActivism: Ekurhuleni social workers ready to assist victims of GBV at customer centres