case study on gender based violence in south africa

Women’s Month: 5 gender-based violence cases that have made headlines in 2022

As SA marks Women’s Month and will commemorate Women’s Day on Tuesday, it continues to battle the scourge of gender-based violence (GBV) and femicide.

President Cyril Ramaphosa labelled GBV the country’s second pandemic at the height of the global health crisis in 2020. 

Speaking at the annual conference gala dinner of the SA Chapter of the International Association of Women Judges, Ramaphosa said violence against women and children is a far greater crisis than most health emergencies SA has faced.

“If we were to quantify the impact of GBV in terms of lives destroyed or lost, families torn apart, societies shattered, economic productivity lost and state resources diverted, we would see violence against women and children is a far greater crisis than most health emergencies we have faced.

“Even as we take a step forward in women’s representation and the advancement of women’s rights, GBV takes us many steps back,” he said. 

In 2020 the World Health Organisation estimated 12.1 in every 100,000 women in SA are victims of femicide each year. This is five times higher than the global average of 2.6 in every 100,000 women.

While the deaths of dozens of women have made headlines and many women and children have died without making the news, here is a list of five GBV cases so far this year:

Sedika Lekhobo

The body of 14-year-old Lekhobo was found at the Vryburg cemetery in North West in March.

At the time, the North West department of education said police were investigating the cause of the teenager’s death.

Family members reported they last saw her alive when she left home in the afternoon.

Provincial MEC for education Mmaphefo Matsemela conveyed her condolences to the bereaved familyg: “On behalf of the department l would like to convey our sincere condolences to the bereaved families of our pupil  who attended Vryburg Secondary School. The pandemic of GBV against women and children is rife in our communities. We hope police will find those responsible for her death.”

Teenage schoolgirl found dead in North West cemetery

Hillary Gardee

In May the country woke up to the shocking news of Gardee’s death. The daughter of former EFF secretary-general Godrich Gardee was found murdered, with visible wounds to her head.

Her body was found next to a pine plantation 40km outside Mbombela in Mpumalanga on May 2.  She was kidnapped in the town on April 29 while travelling home with her adopted three-year-old daughter

Sipho Lawrence Mkhatshwa, 39, Philemon Lukhele, 47, and Mduzuzi Gama, 52, are charged with murder, rape, conspiracy to commit murder, kidnapping, defeating the ends of justice and possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.

'The truth will come out one day,' says Gardee murder accused

Namhla Mtwa

Mtwa was shot nine times in her driveway in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape on April 21 as she arrived home from work. 

On social media her ' sister Sanga Nozintathu Mtwa appealed for justice, alleging her sister was in an abusive relationship with her long-term partner of 17 years, and shared photos showing the violence she allegedly endured during the relationship.

Provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Nomthetheleli Lillian Mene asked anyone with information to come forward.

“Members of the family and the public are assured the case is in the hands of capable and professionally trained detectives. With the support and response demonstrated by the community and formations in every corner of our province and outside its borders, we are optimistic a breakthrough will be made.

“An appeal is made that whoever possesses critical information that will add value to the work of the investigating team and lead to the arrest of the suspect should please share it with the lead investigator,” Mene said.

R200,000 reward to find Namhla Mtwa’s killer

Two grade 12 teens

Two grade 12 pupils were recently hacked to death before their bodies were dismembered on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast.

The provincial department of social development said a man in his 20s, who was apprehended for the killings, tried to evade arrest by jumping into a river. He was later located and arrested.

“Two schoolgirls were allegedly attacked with an axe while in their rented house in Ngwangwane village, Ward 8 Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma local municipality, southern KwaZulu-Natal. It is alleged a man in his 20s came into the rented house in the early hours, hacked the girls to death and dismembered their bodies.

Two grade 12 girls hacked to death and dismembered on KZN south coast

Gang rapes of eight women

More than 130 men were arrested, mostly illegal miners, after eight women were raped last month at a mine dump in West Village, Gauteng

Brig Brenda Muridili, Gauteng police spokesperson, said they have led multiple operations in efforts to clamp down on zama zamas and disrupt their operations.

“The team has arrested 30 undocumented persons, bringing the total number to more than 130 suspects arrested since the province’s high level operations started on July 29.

“The operations were intensified in the West Rand district following an alleged incident of gang rape and armed robbery on July 28. The operations will be conducted continuously to ensure the areas where illegal mining activities are prevalent are stabilised,” Muridili said.

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An Introduction to Gender-Based Violence and Femicide in South Africa

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• Tameshnie Deane 4  

Part of the book series: Gender, Justice and Legal Feminism ((GJLF,volume 5))

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Gender inequality persists worldwide, depriving women and girls of their basic rights and opportunities. Women and girls everywhere must have equal rights and opportunity and be able to live free of violence and discrimination. The perpetration of men’s violence against women is understood to be a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women. This introductory chapter provides a brief background into an understanding of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) in South Africa. It paves the way for an in-depth understanding of the rationale for the book and delves into what the research questions are. By looking at the aims, methodology, and structure of this book, the chapter seeks to highlight how the research question of why GBV persists in the country will be addressed. Overall, this study remains uniquely positioned to shed light on the complex issues of sex, gender, race, power, politics, and their intersections with GBVF.

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Deane ( 2019 ), p. 129.

Deane ( 2018 ), p. 84.

Moffett ( 2006 ), p. 129.

Lacey ( 2020 ), para 3–4.

For example, Black men were commonly hanged for rapes, but only if the victim was a white woman. See Sigsworth ( 2009 ), p. 2. Under apartheid, no white man was sentenced to death for rape. Both facts reveal the racism of the legal system at the time and that is only crimes committed by Black men or against white women were worthy of legal action. See also Hirschauer ( 2014 ), p. 84.

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Deane, T. (2024). An Introduction to Gender-Based Violence and Femicide in South Africa. In: Gender-Based Violence and Femicide in South Africa. Gender, Justice and Legal Feminism, vol 5. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-61053-0_1

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Violence against women is staggeringly high in South Africa – a different way of thinking about it is needed

Professor of Political Science and Chair of the South African Research Initiative in Gender Politics, Stellenbosch University

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Amanda Gouws receives funding from the NRF

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South Africa has notoriously high levels of violence against women. The latest police figures show that 10,818 rape cases were reported in the first quarter of 2022. The country has among the highest rape incidence in the world.

How can gender-based violence in the country be reduced?

It’s important to first understand the causes of gender-based violence – with a focus on sexual violence – globally and in South Africa. There are many contested theories.

Louise du Toit, a Stellenbosch University philosopher, analysed four explanations that are often offered:

past perpetrator violence

social and economic exclusion

injured masculinity or patriarchal politics (reaction to women gaining rights)

violence that is a condition of human existence (ontological violence).

She showed that each theory on its own could not explain sexual violence.

Many men were involved or caught up in apartheid or liberation struggle violence. Yet, women were also victims of that violence. They very seldom commit sexual violence.

Poverty and loss of breadwinner status does not explain why men of all classes rape.

If women’s progress undermines men’s status and dominance, why do men retaliate with sexual violence?

Ontological violence makes the most sense. It relates violence to men’s sense of entitlement to women’s bodies and hypermasculinity .

It is, therefore, hard to find suitable common ground for interventions to reduce violence.

Having researched gender-based violence extensively, I concur with Du Toit’s analysis. Most theories fall short of explaining all aspects of gender-based and sexual violence. I believe interventions need to be anchored in solutions for ontological violence and have to be multi-faceted.

Ontological violence is difficult to address because its origins are diffuse and it relates to men’s treatment of women that has long histories. Yet, there are studies that aim to create multi-faceted solutions to deal with different dimensions of gender-based violence, and sexual violence that have become normalised as part of human existence. Below I single out three such studies.

Gender-based violence and political economy

Jacqui True, an Australian professor of international relations, uses a political economy approach to analyse gender-based violence globally.

Read more: 16 Days of Activism: how South Africa's TV news gets it wrong

In her view, all violence stems from relations of inequality. A political economy approach shows the connections between the economic, social and political realms. It looks at the distribution of resources, benefits, privileges and power in the home, the state and transnational communities.

Secondly, such an approach engages the global macroeconomic environment. It shows how neoliberal economic policies and capitalist competition depend on cheap labour and precarious jobs that make women more vulnerable to violence. This contributes to structural inequalities in which women are the worst off.

Unregulated markets disrupt local economies as well as the division of labour in the household. The struggle for power and resources leads to violent conflict that gets normalised in societies suffering from increasing inequality.

Research on good and bad countries for women to live in shows that equality lessens sexual violence; inequality and conflict worsen sexual violence.

South Africa is one of the most unequal countries in the world and has a history of conflict.

Thirdly, True’s approach shows the connections between gender-based violence and global conflicts. Hypermasculinity and military masculinity contribute to the normalisation of violence in societies, even after conflict has stopped.

Addressing gender-based violence

Canadian political scientist Laurel Weldon’s research shows the importance of government responsiveness through policy to reduce gender-based violence. There are seven areas where policy can make a difference:

legal reform dealing with domestic violence

legal reform dealing with sexual assault

government-funded shelters for victims of domestic violence

crisis centres for victims of sexual assault

training for service providers such as the police, judges and social workers

educating citizens about gender-based violence

coordinating national policies on gender-based violence.

Read more: Rape is endemic in South Africa. Why the ANC government keeps missing the mark

A government that creates a broader, more multifaceted response, early in the rise of the problem, has more success in tackling it.

Weldon also found that national identity, culture and level of development don’t strongly predict sexual violence. What makes the greatest impact to reduce violence is a strong, independent women’s movement.

The number of women in government counts less than whether they put gender violence on the legislative agenda. It also helps to have state structures that promote gender equality, such as an office of the status of women. Successful policy responses are, therefore, driven by committed feminist women in state structures.

American political scientist Hannah Britton, in her 2020 book , Ending Gender Based Violence: Justice and Community in South Africa, rightly points out that mass incarceration does not work. That’s because it holds only individuals responsible. Structural conditions underlying violence are ignored. The state is then absolved from responsibility for dealing with violence.

No easy solutions

If we apply Weldon’s seven points to South Africa we see the following: significant law reform was done during the first decade of democracy. For example, parliament passed the Domestic Violence Act and the Sexual Offences and Related Matters Act, amended in 2022 . But the laws are not consistently implemented or enforced by the police.

For instance, shelters for domestic violence are underfunded by government . Also, one-stop Thuthuzela care centres at police stations to treat rape victims with the necessary sensitivity are being rolled out too slowly.

Police training on gender-based violence is limited. The establishment of the National Council on Gender Based Violence , the central agency that’s supposed to coordinate official responses, has been stalled since 2012.

South Africa has an impressive 46% women’s representation in parliament, because of the ANC’s policy of 50% representation for women . But, these women have not spearheaded policy against gender-based violence. Instead, the government was forced to draw up a National Strategic Plan on Gender Based Violence and Femicide by the #TotalShutDown movement in 2018.

South Africa had one of the best national gender machineries globally. It had structures in the legislature (such as the Joint Monitoring Committee on the Quality of Life and the Status of Women and the multiparty women’s caucus , in the executive (Office of the Status of Women) and the independent constitutional body, the Commission for Gender Equality .

Most of these structures were dismantled and replaced with a dysfunctional Ministry for Women, Youth and People with Disabilities that is supposed to initiate interventions on gender-based violence.

Read more: Change what South African men think of women to combat their violent behaviour

As Weldon’s research has shown, the most important cog in the struggle against gender-based violence is a strong women’s movement. In South Africa there is currently no coherent, active women’s or feminist movement. The Women’s National Coalition that spearheaded feminist equality during the democratic transition in the 1990s has since fractured and disintegrated.

Activism now takes the form of sporadic issue-driven action, such as the campaigns by #TotalShutDown and #EndRapeCulture . While this type of activism is laudable, it does not sustain pressure on government for action.

There is thus no simple suggestion for how to reduce gender-based violence. All interventions are contextual and political and need to address different dimensions of a multi-dimensional problem.

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Gender Based Violence against Women in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Cross-Sectional Studies

Muluken dessalegn muluneh.

1 School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University, Parramatta South Campus, Parramatta, NSW 2151, Australia

2 Amref Health Africa in Ethiopia, Addis Ababa 17022, Ethiopia

Virginia Stulz

3 School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751 Australia

Lyn Francis

Kingsley agho.

4 School of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag1797, Penrith, NSW 2571, Australia

5 African Vision Research Institute (AVRI), University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4041, South Africa

Associated Data

This study aimed to systematically review studies that examined the prevalence of gender based violence (GBV) that included intimate partner violence (IPV) and non-IPV among women in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This evidence is an important aspect to work towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) target of eliminating all forms of violence in SSA. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines were followed. Ovid Medline, CINAHL, Cochrane Central, Embase, Scopus and Web of Science were used to source articles with stringent eligibility criteria. Studies on GBV in SSA countries that were published in English from 2008 to 2019 were included. A random effect meta-analysis was used. Fifty-eight studies met the inclusion criteria. The pooled prevalence of IPV among women was 44%, the past year-pooled prevalence of IPV was 35.5% and non-IPV pooled prevalence was 14%. The highest prevalence rates of IPV that were reported included emotional (29.40%), physical (25.87%) and sexual (18.75%) violence. The sub-regional analysis found that women residing in Western (30%) and Eastern (25%) African regions experienced higher levels of emotional violence. Integrated mitigation measures to reduce GBV in SSA should focus mainly on IPV in order to achieve the SDG’s that will lead to sustainable changes in women’s health.

1. Introduction

According to the United Nations (UN), gender based violence (GBV) is defined as “any act of gender based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life [ 1 ].” GBV occurs and is classified in various ways. It can be defined depending on the relationship between the perpetrator and victim (intimate partner violence (IPV) and non-IPV), or by type of the act of GBV, such as sexual, physical or emotional violence [ 2 ]. This definition resonates throughout this manuscript.

GBV is a global public health problem that poses challenges in human health, with a higher prevalence in developing countries [ 3 , 4 ]. GBV not only plays a significant component in the morbidity and mortality of women, but this form of violence disproportionately affects the health status of women and their children [ 4 ]. GBV is an abuse of human rights that occurs internationally, in both developing and developed countries, regardless of culture, socio-economic class or religion [ 2 , 5 , 6 ] and varies in frequency, forms and extent from country to country [ 6 ].

It is often considered a ‘tip of the iceberg or silent epidemic’ as victims are hesitant to reveal their experiences of violence due to many barriers [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ]. The barriers that women experience about reporting GBV include fear of stigma and shame, financial barriers, lack of awareness of available services, fear of revenge, lack of law enforcement action and attitudes surrounding violence as a normal component of life. Subsequently, this results in underreporting and challenges in accurately measuring the prevalence of GBV [ 7 , 10 ]. Overall, it is estimated that 30% of women have experienced at least one form of GBV in their lifetime since the age of 15 [ 4 ]. A World Health Organisation (WHO) multi-country study among women of reproductive age revealed that the overall prevalence of IPV ranged between 15% in urban areas (such as Japan) to 71% in provincial areas (such as Ethiopia) [ 3 ]. Evidence reveals that the problem is mostly prominent in developing countries where socioeconomic status is low and education is limited, especially in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries [ 11 , 12 ].

The SDG’s are targeting eliminating all forms of violence against women and that all countries should be free from IPV by the year 2030, considering the deep rooted practices and effects of GBV against women [ 13 ]. In response to this, all stakeholders in all countries need to improve and work towards decreasing the prevalence of IPV [ 14 ]. Hence, better understanding of the prevalence of GBV is necessary for government and nongovernment organisations to inform an appropriate and effective policy response.

Despite the scope of this problem, most available studies are limited to developed countries with limited evidence focused on SSA countries [ 4 , 7 , 11 ]. Setting priority prevention and mitigation measures using the evidence from developed countries alone have substantial drawbacks [ 4 , 13 ]. In addition, studies conducted in SSA countries were focused on small-scale studies such as provinces and districts in particular countries that could overestimate the prevalence of GBV [ 3 , 4 ]. The small-scale studies conducted cannot be generalizable to the wider population. As a result, many SSA countries are yet to include the elimination of GBV on their policy agendas as a serious human rights violation with severe short and long-term implications [ 15 ]. There have been limited studies to date that have collectively and systematically examined the prevalence of GBV in varying forms among women aged 15-49 years of age in SSA countries, besides these small-scale studies.

Therefore, the aim of this research was to systematically determine the pooled prevalence rates of GBV including IPV and non-IPV in SSA countries. Additionally, the study analysed pooled prevalence rates of physical, sexual and emotional IPV in SSA countries. Findings reported in this study will provide vital evidence to inform policy and guide health investments to respond and prevent violence in alignment with the SDG’s target by 2030. In addition, the research findings will serve as a stimulus for further research on the dynamics of GBV in SSA countries to close existing gaps in the literature.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. study setting.

According to the United Nation (UN) World Population Review 2019, SSA consists of 48 countries with a population of 1,066,283,427 and accounts for 14.2% of the world population, with a growth rate of 2.66% in 2019 [ 16 ]. According to the UN sub-classification, regions are subdivided in to four regions including Western, Central African, Eastern, and Southern SSA [ 16 ]. Western SSA included Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. Central African SSA included Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo Republic-Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Sao Tome and Principe. Southern SSA included Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe [ 16 ]. The fourth least developed sub-region of SSA is Eastern SSA that included Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Somaliland, Tanzania and Uganda [ 16 ].

GBV is reported as a common practice in SSA and sexual violence prevalence is high in some countries such as Zambia (90%) and Ethiopia (711%) [ 3 , 17 ]. According to the Gender Equality Index Report, which includes data on reproductive health, employment, and empowerment, 27 of the 30 countries in the world that exhibit unequitable gender indices, are in Africa [ 13 ]. Most African cultural beliefs and traditions promote men’s hierarchical role in sexual relationships and especially in marriage [ 18 ]. Almost two-thirds (63%) of the African population live in remote rural settings that increases the difficulty to access basic amenities [ 16 ] and communities are disparate from the influence of central government or laws that prohibit GBV [ 13 ]. Only 22 African countries have adopted laws that prohibit GBV [ 14 ].

2.2. Information Source

A search of six electronic databases including Ovid Medline, CINAHL, Cochrane Central, EMBASE, Scopus, and Web of Science were undertaken. Relevant reference listings were checked, and grey literature was included, in addition to key research publications. Prior to starting this systematic review, the authors ensured the research question did not appear in any existing systematic reviews using Cochrane, Health Services Research Projects in Progress (HSRProj), and Prospero International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) database registries.

2.3. Search Strategy

This systematic review was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines [ 19 ]. Pre-selected Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms and text words were used and searched in the above six databases for peer reviewed articles published between January 2008 and July 2019. The year 2008 was used as a baseline that provided increased global commitment of addressing GBV over the past decade [ 20 ]. There has been an increased uptake on the number of studies determining GBV prevalence internationally [ 20 ]. Moreover, the population dynamics have changed rapidly over the past ten years including improvements in health service access and education [ 21 ]. The search was limited to English language papers. Gender-based violence, intimate partner violence, domestic violence, spouse abuse, physical abuse, emotional violence, reproductive coercion, sexual assault, sub-Saharan countries, women aged 15-49 years, prevalence, magnitude and estimates were the key words used to conduct the search ( Table S1 ). The specified age of 15 years was used as a baseline as most studies used Demographic Health Surveys (DHS) that focused on women aged 15 to 49 years of age.

2.4. Eligibility Criteria

The following eligibility criteria were used to include studies in the systematic review:

• (i) Studies that reported the prevalence of GBV that focused on either or a combination of IPV, non-IPV, physical, sexual or emotional violence;
• (ii) Sample size greater than 300;
• (iii) Females within the age range of 15–49 years of age;
• (iv) Studies conducted in SSA countries [ 16 ] including countries in Western, Central, Eastern and Southern countries (see study setting for the list of countries);
• (v) Published in English from 2008 to 2019;
• (vi) Only quantitative studies.

2.5. Exclusion Criteria

• GBV studies with no prevalence reported for example, studies that focused on factors associated with GBV; GBV consequences;
• Sample size less than 300;
• Qualitative studies not included as the main objective was to generate a pooled prevalence of GBV using the meta-analysis;
• Studies conducted outside SSA;
• Studies published before 1st of January 2008;
• Studies published other than English;
• Study participants less than 15 years of age or greater than 49 years of age.

2.6. Quality of Study

The quality of the studies that met the inclusion criteria was appraised using a Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) checklist for cross-sectional studies [ 22 ]. The following criteria were the key questions derived from the CASP to appraise the quality of the studies:

• Did the study address a clearly focused issue?
• Were the participants of the study recruited in an acceptable way?
• Was the outcome accurately measured to minimise bias?
• Was the sampling appropriate for the study?
• What are the results of the study?
• How precise are the tools used to measure the results?
• Do you believe the results?
• Can the results be applied to the local population?
• Are the results of the study relevant and fit with other available evidence?
• What are the implications of this study for practice?

The two independent reviewers rated the quality of each study by screening and considering the findings in relation to current practice or policy or relevant research-based literature and whether the findings can be transferred to other populations. The quality of each paper was rated using a ten-point scale using the CASP measurement criteria, 0 (none of the quality measures met) to ten (all quality measures met). The quality of the paper was based on the sum of points awarded. Studies were rated as poor quality (score ≤ 6); medium quality (7–8); and high quality (≥9) (See Table S2 in the Supplementary Materials .

2.7. Data Extraction

Endnote was used to manage search results. The authors reviewed the titles, abstracts, and keywords of every article retrieved by the search according to the selection criteria developed that included author, country, population/study subjects, study design, sample size and key findings and quality of the paper. The full texts of the articles were retrieved for further assessment if the information suggested that the study met the selection criteria or if there was any doubt regarding eligibility of the article based on the information in the title and abstract. Outcome data were extracted from studies using a tailored data extraction form adopted from various literature.

2.8. Data Analysis and Synthesis

This study was based on secondary data analysis. The syntax “metaprop” in Stata version 16.0 [ 23 ] was used to generate forest plots for each of the Figures S1–S8 . Each forest plot showed the prevalence of an indicator in individual authors and countries and its corresponding weight, as well as the pooled prevalence in each sub-region and its associated 95% confidence intervals (CI’s). A test of heterogeneity of the DHS and other data sets were obtained for the different authors and countries that showed a high level of inconsistency (I 2 > 50%) thereby warranting the use of a random effect model in all the meta-analyses. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to examine the effect of outliers by using a method similar to that employed by Patsopoulos and colleagues [ 24 ] which involves comparing the pooled prevalence before and after elimination of one author or country at a time. Subgroup analysis was conducted by Eastern Africa, Western Africa and Southern Africa based on the UN classification [ 16 ]. The findings of the systematic review are synthesized and presented in summary form in Table 1 .

Characteristics of included studies (intimate partner violence (IPV) and non-IPV).

2.9. Ethical Statement

This review used secondary data available in the public domain including the six electronic databases for the systematic review and the DHS dataset that are publicly available. Therefore, ethical approval was not required for this study because the data included in this analysis contained no identifying information and is publicly available and ethical approval has already been obtained by the original author or by the DHS program.

A total of 4931 articles were found in the initial search from all databases. After removal of duplicates, 3275 remained for screening. Screening by title led to the exclusion of 3021 articles. Further reading of abstracts for 245 full-text articles led to the exclusion of another 187 articles. Twelve grey literature articles were included. Finally, 58 articles met the inclusion criteria ( Figure S1 ).

3.1. Description of Included Studies

Fifty-eight articles were reviewed for data analysis and interpretation. The majority (95%) [ 4 , 9 , 15 , 21 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 ] of research articles included in this review were cross-sectional and the remaining (5%) were cohort studies [ 86 , 87 , 88 ]. Only cross-sectional studies were used to estimate the pooled prevalence rates. Overall, the total sample sizes ranged from 300 to 86,024 women of reproductive age ( Table 1 ).

Overall, 58 cross-sectional studies investigated the prevalence of IPV either in the woman’s lifetime or over the previous year. Four studies reported non-IPV [ 4 , 27 , 60 , 80 ]. The studies that focused on IPV included 23 that reported physical violence, 18 that reported sexual violence and 20 studies that reported emotional violence. A relatively larger number of studies were found from Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda ( Table 1 ). The assessment of the studies’ quality found that 30 (52%) were very good, 22 (38%) were medium quality and six (10%) studies were deemed low quality. The details of this assessment are provided as a supporting document (Table S2) .

3.2. Prevalence of IPV among Women Aged 15–49 Years of Age

The prevalence of IPV in various SSA countries was sourced from 25 studies. The findings showed the prevalence ranged from as low as 13.9% (95% CI 10.8, 17.6%) [ 86 ] in a study conducted on perinatal women with depression symptoms in South Africa to as high as 97% (95% CI 94.6, 98%) [ 37 ] in a study conducted among rural women in Nigeria. The overall meta-analysis estimate for prevalence of IPV was 44.4% (95% 38.4, 49.8%) ( Figure S2 ).

3.3. Prevalence of Intimate Partner Physical or Sexual Violence among Women Aged 15–49 Years of Age Using DHS Data (2008–2019)

Additional information was sourced from the most recent DHS reports that were conducted in SSA countries from 2008 to 2019 [ 101 ]. Only 29 sub-Saharan countries from the DHS reported on GBV. The prevalence focused on physical or sexual violence committed by a husband or partner against women [ 101 ]. We found that prevalence ranged from as low as 6.4 % in Comoros to 51% in Cameroun [ 101 ]. The meta-analysis showed a pooled prevalence of 31.3% (95% CI 26.3, 36.3) with heterogeneity detected among various surveys and countries ( Figure S3 ).

3.4. Prevalence of Past Year IPV among Women Aged 15–49 Years of Age

A total of 18 studies investigated experiences of IPV over the past year among 24,941 women. The highest prevalence of IPV was found among women engaged in commercial sex work 78.7% (95% CI 75.2, 81.8%) in Kenya and in Nigeria (52.5%) (95% CI 46.7, 58.2%) [ 66 ]. Furthermore, a meta-analysis was estimated at 35.5 % (95% CI, 27.2, 44.12) ( Figure S4 ). The sub-region analysis showed the highest pooled estimates in Eastern Africa (38.93%), followed by Western Africa (32%). Limited studies were sourced in South and Central SSA countries on IPV over the past year. Another sub-group analysis over the past year’s prevalence of GBV among pregnant and non-pregnant women showed the prevalence of experiencing any form of GBV amongst pregnant women was 30.5% (95% CI 21.2, 39.6) compared to non-pregnant women 39.8% (95% CI 26.98, 52.69) ( Figure S4 ).

3.5. Prevalence of Physical IPV among Women Aged 15–49 Years of Age

Prevalence of physical violence was found in 23 studies ranging from 5.5% (95% CI 3.9, 7.9%) [ 47 ] among nurses in Ethiopia and 5.9% (95% CI 3.6–9.3%) [ 66 ] among HIV positive pregnant women in Nigeria to 59.9% (95% CI 55.5–63.8%) [ 29 ] among women in Uganda. A total of 66,361 women participants were included in the meta-analysis. Further, analysis of sub-regional estimates of physical violence was 29.3%, (95% CI 20.49, 38.09%) in Eastern Africa, 22.38% (95% CI 17.64, 27.12%) in Western Africa, 26.59% (95% CI 18.79, 34.38%) in Central Africa and 29.29% (95% CI 10.36, 48.18%) in Southern Africa. The overall pooled prevalence of physical violence was 26.14% (95% CI 21.69, 30.40%) with differences detected amongst the studies ( Figure S5 ). Eleven studies showed that over the past year, the prevalence of IPV ranged from 9.3% (95% CI 8.3, 10.6%) in a Tanzanian study [ 96 ] to 43.8% (95% CI 39.5, 47.8%) [ 29 ] in Uganda. The pooled past year prevalence of physical IPV was estimated at 21.59% (95% CI 15.84, 27.33%).

3.6. Prevalence of Sexual IPV among Women Aged 15–49 Years of Age

Seventeen studies showed an overall prevalence of violent experiences and seven studies found experiences of sexual violence over the past year. Overall, pooled prevalence of sexual violence was 18.61% (95% CI 15.21, 22.00) with a high disparity among studies detected ( Figure S6 ). The highest prevalence report was found in women in Northern Uganda (50%) (95% CI 46, 53%) [ 29 ], followed by a study conducted amongst women (39.7%) (95% CI 32.2, 47.2) in the Democratic Congo [ 31 ]. The lowest prevalence was found in Ghana (4%) (95% CI 3.1, 5.1) [ 37 ] and Nigeria (6.6%) (95% CI 6.3, 6.9) [ 45 ] amongst women of reproductive age. Similarly, a study conducted amongst nurses in Ethiopia showed one in 25 nurses (3.8%) had an experience of sexual violence (95% CI 2.5, 5.6) [ 47 ]. Eastern African women experienced relatively more sexual violence compared to other sub-regions. Among the seven studies with women experiencing sexual violence over the past year, violence ranged from the highest in Nigeria (42%) [ 66 ] and Ethiopia (31%) [ 39 ] to the lowest being 2% (95% CI 1.1–3.6 %) in a study conducted among HIV infected pregnant women in South Africa [ 93 ]. The results show there were no differences in lifetime and past year sexual IPV experiences ( Figure S6 ).

3.7. Prevalence of Emotional IPV among Women Aged 15–49 Years of Age

There were 57,434 study participants included in the analysis. The prevalence of emotional violence was the highest among health care workers in Ethiopia (53.1%) (95% CI 48.7%, 57.4) [ 100 ] to Rwanda 9.7% (95% CI 8.8, 10.7) [ 56 ]. In particular regions, one in three women in most parts of Western Africa were emotionally abused by their partner. For instance, two studies conducted amongst women aged 15–49 years of age in Nigeria indicated the prevalence rate of emotional violence experienced was 44.4% (95% CI 40.9, 47.9) [ 58 ] and 34.7% (95% CI 29.5, 40.2) [ 28 ]. The most common type of violence was purported to be emotional violence in these countries in comparison to other regions. Sub-group analysis was conducted based on timing of the violence and found a pooled overall prevalence of emotional violence of 29.36% (95% CI 24.77, 33.9) and past one-year prevalence rate of 21.42% (95% CI 17.58, 25.26) ( Figure S7 ). The test of heterogeneity and publication bias was detected (I 2 = 98.9% and 88.6%, Egger’s test = 0.205).

Six studies have demonstrated the magnitude of emotional violence over the past year. The highest prevalence was found among female sex workers (31.9%) (95% CI 26.7, 37.1) [ 71 ] in Nigeria, followed by a study in Ghana (24.6%) (95% CI 20.5, 29.2) [ 98 ]. Correspondingly, a study conducted in Ethiopia showed one in five pregnant women experienced IPV over the past year [ 52 ].

3.8. Prevalence of Non-IPV among Women Aged 15–49 Years of Age

Non-IPV studies were rarely found. Of the total studies screened (58), only four studies investigated non-IPV. The highest non-IPV was found in Uganda (18.5%) and Somalia (16.5%) [ 60 , 80 ]. One out of six women reported experiencing physical and/or sexual violence by a non-intimate partner during their lifetime [ 60 , 80 ]. Two international studies showed that the prevalence of non-IPV was 11% (95% CI 4.5, 37.5) and 11.1 % (95% CI 8.5, 15.3) [ 4 , 5 ]. The pooled prevalence of non-IPV was 14.18 % (95% CI 11.61, 16.97) ( Figure S8 ).

4. Discussion

This review incorporated all forms of GBV, including physical, sexual and emotional violence and IPV and non-IPV. The findings showed the pooled prevalence of GBV was high in SSA countries. This high pooled prevalence included almost half of the women experiencing IPV and a considerable number of females being abused by non-IPV. Emotional IPV violence was the most common type of violence in SSA. GBV was more prevalent in the sub-regions, in Western and Eastern Africa as compared to southern regions of SSA countries. Methodological quality of cross-sectional studies was appraised. We used only cross-sectional studies because we only found three cohort studies and/or randomized controlled trials.

Overall, a high pooled prevalence of IPV among women in SSA was found as compared to the global estimate which was conducted in 56 countries in 2013 [ 4 ] and SSA countries [ 5 , 21 , 102 , 103 ]. The findings of this review are comparable or slightly higher to studies conducted in 14 SSA countries [ 27 , 102 ]. The higher prevalence of IPV in our study could provide a better overview compared to previous studies where the number of countries involved were relatively small. Most importantly, this high prevalence might be due to the prevalence of gender inequality in regions for reasons including prerogative perceptions to males, tolerant attitudes in the community to IPV, poor education of women, female disempowerment and limited law enforcement in SSA [ 3 , 4 , 21 , 102 , 104 , 105 ].

Further analysis of the pooled prevalence rate over the past year revealed that more than two out of five women have reported experiencing IPV in SSA countries. This figure is consistent with a study conducted in other SSA countries [ 104 ] and more than five percent greater than the global lifetime prevalence of IPV (30%) [ 4 ]. This figure could be even higher, in reality, due to the underreporting associated with GBV [ 7 ] because of factors associated with fear of stigma, women preferring to keep quiet and fear of divorce, amongst many other reasons [ 6 , 7 , 14 , 17 ].

One of the interesting findings from this study is that the proportion (18%) of women affected during their lifetime and over the past year’s experiences of IPV were exactly the same as shown in Figures S2 and S4 . This finding reflects that women in SSA countries are being subjected to experiences of violence continuously compared to other areas [ 14 ]. Overall, IPV in SSA countries is the most prevalent and challenging public health issue. The social context of the region is very complex and strong ties, extended family size and large communities of relatives are quite common that might expose women to potential perpetrators [ 106 ]. The prevention and management of GBV makes it more difficult in SSA countries.

The finding of pooled prevalence of IPV of the DHS was very high. There were statistical differences compared to the pooled prevalence of IPV computed from the electronic sourced articles. Moreover, the pooled prevalence from non-DHS studies found in electronic databases and DHS reviews were statistically different ( p < 0.01). Our systematic review focused on IPV that included any of the combinations of physical, sexual or emotional violence or coexistence while DHS data focused on either physical or sexual violence among married women. In addition, DHS only explored married women, while in our study we used any population group in the age range of 15–49 years of age.

In this review, the pooled prevalence of all types of GBV, physical, sexual and emotional violence were consistently higher in SSA countries as compared to many other regions in the world [ 25 , 102 , 103 ]. Emotional violence was the most prevalent reported type of violence. Sexual experiences are reported not as frequently in many African countries for numerous reasons. The pattern of sexual violence is lower than emotional and physical violence, which might be related to victimized women being unlikely to report an attack due to fear of discrimination, feeling shame, and not being able to identify as well as physical violence [ 7 , 14 ].

One of the unexpected findings among health care providers was the highest prevalence rates (53%) of emotional violence and lowest prevalence rates (5%) of physical violence being reported in Ethiopia [ 100 ]. This high prevalence of emotional violence may be related to less satisfaction of service users due to long waiting times and less experienced health workers working in the health facilities. The majority of health care providers in the studies were females and this may be a reflection of gender inequality in the work areas. Most importantly, there is a lack of violence tracking or reporting mechanisms when it occurs among service providers, specifically focusing on emotional violence in the health care system [ 100 , 107 ]. Alternatively, the low prevalence of physical violence may be due to nurses having an understanding of the local context of GBV and being more likely to notify cases that would prevent perpetrators committing acts of violence [ 9 , 11 ]. Additionally, perpetrators may be unlikely to attack nurses at places such as a hospital or health centre where many other patients are receiving care from nurses.

The sub region analyses found that Eastern Africa (42%) including Ethiopia and Uganda were the most affected by all forms of IPV [ 29 , 47 ], followed by Western Africa (41.7%). In line with our findings, the two regions that experienced high prevalence rates of IPV in comparison to other African regions [ 7 , 25 ] was also consistent with other studies conducted in SSA countries [ 4 , 5 ]. In Eastern Africa, physical and sexual violence prevalence rates were worse and emotional violence prevalence rates were more common in Western Africa. This finding is consistent with findings of other studies [ 2 , 6 , 15 , 27 ]. This might be attributed to factors such as socioeconomic class, women’s disempowerment, community acceptance for wife beating and the type of community in which the study was conducted [ 4 , 6 , 27 , 29 , 108 , 109 ].

Alternatively, in Southern regions of Africa, the educational qualifications are relatively much better when compared to Eastern African countries [ 110 ]. A study conducted in South Africa found a combined intervention of economic intervention and education reduced IPV prevalence rates by 55% over a period of two years. Therefore, education differences could explain the differences of IPV prevalence in the two regions [ 110 ].

The pooled non-IPV prevalence (14%) experiences were very high. The pooled non-IPV prevalence experiences were slightly higher than the three studies that were conducted internationally, which was 11% [ 4 , 5 , 27 ]. The highest non-IPV prevalence may be related to political instability and war violence. For example, in Somalia the non-IPV prevalence was found to be 16.5% [ 80 ] which is mainly related to political instability and migration of the region. Moreover, some basic services are lacking, for example, health services, water and education. As a result, women are forced to travel long distances, which puts women more at risk to be subjected to violence as compared to those who have easy access and less travel time to those services.

4.1. Policy Implication

Findings reported in this study provide vital evidence to inform policy and guide health practitioners to respond and prevent violence in alignment with the SDG’s target by 2030. The aftermath of GBV has large ramifications for women’s health. It will be a challenge to achieve the SDG’s target to eradicate IPV by the year 2030, unless there is a timely intervention and policy designed for SSA regions. Governmental policies top priorities should focus on prevention of GBV, especially with the high prevalence of both IPV and non-IPV in all regions of SSA countries. This strategy needs to be supported by a legal framework to accommodate social support that includes educational and economic growth and provision of health information and services. All SSA countries need to develop an immediate action plan to support the challenges that women are facing with GBV. This review has added evidence to the current existing knowledge in the literature and has provided a stimulus for future research on the dynamics of GBV in SSA countries.

4.2. Strengths and Limitations of this Review

This is the first systematic review and meta-analysis to quantitatively summarize the prevalence of GBV that includes IPV and non-IPV that extends to SSA countries. A rigorous search was conducted from many electronic databases and selected nationally representative data sets (DHS) were used for most studies. A quality assessment was conducted with two independent reviewers conducting the quality screening. Only studies with adequate samples greater than 300 for representativeness were included in the review.

Despite the rigorous process of the systematic review, the searches only included articles published in English. The heterogeneity in our review could have been due to various factors such as different recall periods, underreporting, contextual differences including conflict, cultural differences and the quality of tools used to assess GBV. The generalizability of some small-scale studies is limited as studies may overestimate or underestimate GBV depending upon the context of the study. In addition, the number of studies on non-IPV were limited and it was difficult to identify the broader picture of GBV in the region. Furthermore, this review only included quantitative studies, most of which were cross-sectional. Therefore, qualitative studies were not included which may provide further information on the attitudes of women and communities about GBV that could indicate higher prevalence rates of GBV.

5. Conclusions and Recommendations

GBV against women is a pertinent health challenge in SSA countries. GBV that includes IPV and non-IPV are prevalent in SSA. More than two-fifths (44%) of women aged 15–49 years of age in SSA countries experienced some form of IPV and almost a fifth (14%) experienced non-IPV. All types of IPV (physical, sexual and emotional violence) are common experiences among women in SSA countries, with emotional violence being the most prevalent. Women living in Eastern and Western African regions experience the highest levels of GBV.

The need for an integrated mitigation measure to reduce GBV needs to be considered as a top priority in line with the SDG target in 2030 to reduce all forms of violence in SSA countries. Hence, government and private organisations should understand and address the problem of GBV. All organisations can allocate resources and design appropriate interventions that includes law enforcement to ensure social support is provided for women in the quest to eradicate GBV. In addition, more research is required to provide information on the dynamics of communities, the context, and associated factors of GBV and the subsequent effects of women’s reproductive health and beyond. Furthermore, more studies on IPV in SSA are required, especially in areas where political instability and war are on the increase.

Acknowledgments

This study is part of the first author’s work for Doctor of Philosophy at Western Sydney University, Australia. We are very grateful for the support of Maereg Wagnew during screening, data abstraction and quality assessment.

Supplementary Materials

The following are available online at https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/3/903/s1 , Figure S1: PRISMA flow chart for selection of studies on prevalence of GBV; Figure S2: overall pooled prevalence of IPV; Figure S3: pooled prevalence of physical or sexual violence committed by husband/partner among ever-married women age 15-49 years of old using latest DHS surveys; Figure S4: past one year pooled prevalence of IPV; Figure S5: pooled prevalence of physical IPV; Figure S6: pooled prevalence of sexual IPV by timing; Figure S7: overall pooled prevalence and recent past year prevalence of emotional IPV; and Figure S8: pooled prevalence of non-IPV. In addition, Table S1: search strategy, and Table S2: quality assessment of included studies.

Author Contributions

M.D.M., V.S., L.F. and K.A. were involved in the conceptualization of this study. M.D.M. carried out the analysis and drafted the manuscript. V.S., L.Y. and K.A. were involved in the revision and editing of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

This research received no external funding.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Evidence-Based Strategies for the Prevention of Gender-Based Violence in South Africa: A Case Study of CSVR

• Posted on August 8, 2016
• In Publications , Research

From 2013 to 2015, the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) partnered with the Nisaa Institute for Women's Development in Orange Farm (Gauteng), the Thohoyandou Victim Empowerment Project (TVEP) in Limpopo, the Loskop community in KwaZulu-Natal and the Bo-Kaap community in the Western Cape to pilot various community-based interventions to prevent and eradicate gender-based violence (GBV). The processes involved in working with these communities were documented with the aim of developing a model that would provide other organisations and communities in South Africa with information and practical approaches to be used in preventing and eradicating GBV. This report highlights the activities undertaken by CSVR to implement GBV prevention initiatives in the four communities. The report first outlines the application of the ecological model as a theoretical framework in the interventions. Thereafter the learning, monitoring, evaluation and sustainability of the initiatives is discussed, followed by recommendations on what needs to be done to implement evidence-based interventions to prevent and eradicate GBV.

CSVR is a multi-disciplinary institute that seeks to understand and prevent violence, heal its effects and build sustainable peace at the community, national and regional levels.

• Tags: Gender-based Violence , Violence Prevention

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Exploring the Role of Women in Gender-Based Violence: Deconstructing the One-sided Narrative in Bityi, Eastern Cape, South Africa

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Ethical considerations for disability-inclusive gender-based violence research: Reflections from a South African qualitative case study

Affiliations.

• 1 a Gender and Health Research Unit , South African Medical Research Council , Cape Town , South Africa.
• 2 b Women's Health Research Unit, School of Public Health and Family Medicine , University of Cape Town , Cape Town , South Africa.
• PMID: 30392442
• DOI: 10.1080/17441692.2018.1542015

Globally, women with disabilities experience heightened and unique forms of violence compared to men with disabilities and women without disabilities. Yet formalised guidelines for their inclusion in gender-based violence (GBV) research is lacking. This paper draws on ethical guidelines for researching violence against women, and studies on the ethicality of including people with disabilities in research, to advocate for women with disabilities' inclusion and safety in GBV research. Reflecting on lessons from a qualitative study on violence against women living with disabilities in South Africa, the paper considers what could be of value for GBV researchers and ethics review committees in low-middle income countries (LMICs). It aims to stimulate debate around the integration of reasonable accommodation, accessibility, and equal participation of women with disabilities in planning and conducting ethical GBV research. The paper recommends that considerations are practically applied and tested in other LMICs, and thereafter critiqued in consultation with a range of stakeholders and women with disabilities, to enhance best practice and form a basis for developing guidelines for undertaking ethical and inclusive GBV research in LMICs.

Keywords: Ethics; disability; gender-based violence; inclusive research; violence against women.

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A one-stop source on the measures governments are taking to build a world free from violence against women and girls

1 in 3 women

Globally, almost one in three women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence at least once in their life. This violence is often perpetrated by current or former intimate partners.

Policies, laws and budgets

These are essential tools for ending violence against women, but they are only effective when implemented and enforced in compliance with international standards and recommendations. 

A comprehensive look at measures

The Global Database on Violence against Women provides up-to-date information on measures taken by governments to address different forms of violence against women.

With 10,000+ measures from 193 countries, the database offers key insights into efforts around the world.

* The Violence Against Women and Girls category includes legislations that are not specifically addressing one or several particular forms of violence.

Support Services

Provided training to the police to support survivors of violence against women.

Prevention initiatives specifically targeted men and boys.

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More than 90% of measures were adopted since the 2030 Agenda in 2015, with the Asia-Pacific region taking the lead.

Track progress and hold governments accountable for building a world where every woman and girl enjoys a life free from violence.

Experiencing Violence?

Chikunga condemns persistent acts of gender-based violence

Minister in the Presidency responsible for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Sindisiwe Chikunga, has reiterated the call for all South Africans to rally behind the country’s fight against Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF).

This includes acts of GBVF perpetrated by intimate partners and family members. 

Chikunga emphasised the urgent need to move beyond sloganeering.

“There is an urgent need to invest adequate resources to respond to the GBVF pandemic and all forms of discrimination by the whole of society and the government,” Chikunga said.

In its 2020 report titled "Killings of Women and Girls by Their Intimate Partner or Other Family Members - Global Estimates," the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimated that, on average, a woman or girl is killed by someone in her own family every 11 minutes.

A year later, estimates by the World Health Organisation (WHO) also found that one in three women worldwide has suffered from physical and sexual violence in her lifetime, and that one in five women who have had at least one partner has experienced physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner.

Chikunga noted that despite the exponential high level of commendable advocacy and policy commitment, Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) remains one of the most frequent forms of violence against women and girls. She added that recent studies affirm that despite decades of activism, advocacy, and action by state and non-state actors, the available evidence shows that progress in stopping IPV and related violence has been deeply inadequate.

While government has heeded this call and elevated the fight against GBVF into one of its top priorities, Chikunga acknowledged that in the past 30 years of democratic dispensation, the plight of women and girls in South Africa has remained deplorable and far from ideal.

“As we begin the seventh Administration, our message has to be clear when it comes to the fight against GBVF; the master's tools will not destroy the master's house. We need new tools, and we need them urgently.

“South Africans have bestowed on our shoulders a responsibility to recognise and respond appropriately to the systemic and structural nature of discrimination, and violence against women and girls. We can no longer tinker on the edges and expect systemic results.”

Across educational, religious, cultural, sporting, and creative environments, the Minister said, “all our values and practices must be put into question and deliberately repurposed to support the fight against patriarchal chauvinism in all spheres of life.’

She further stressed a need for systemic change, noting that the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities is committed to enforcing gender equality throughout government and society as a constitutional imperative, and “not as an afterthought that emerges when the next victim is lying cold.”

“Women have been and continue to be the basic foundation of all human civilisation, and yet we wake up every day and petition a man for the right to survive until the end of the day.

“We need community intelligence - researchers, scholars, advocates, and activists who will go beyond reproducing mainstream narratives and get a granular picture from communities that face violence at a community or even street level, to ensure that justice is served,” Chikunga said. – SAnews.gov.za  

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South Africa’s Secondary Pandemic: A Crisis of Gender Based Violence

Photo credit: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

In South Africa, sometimes known as the ‘destination of femicide’, more than 2,700 women have been murdered as result of gender-based violence (GBV) since 2000. Although grassroots organisations have persistently campaigned to end GBV, many women in South Africa continue to suffer abuse. Now, South Africa’s GBV problem is worsening, as lockdown measures have trapped women inside with their abusers.

For the first time since March, when the South African government  introduced one of the world’s longest and strictest lockdowns in response to the first detected cases of coronavirus, the devastating impact of lockdown on the already severe gender-based violence issue (GBV) has been exposed. The government’s GBV and Feminicide Command Centre, a call centre to support victims of GBV, recorded more than 120,000 victims in the first three weeks of the lockdown . Just weeks later in Pretoria, a similar call centre was receiving up to 1,000 calls a day from women and children who were confined to abusive homes seeking urgent help. Prior to the pandemic, femicide in South Africa was already five times higher than the global average and the female interpersonal violence death rate was the fourth-highest out of the 183 countries listed by the World Health Organisation in 2016 . Evidence has now emerged that suggests cases of violence against women are increasing. In 2019-2020, there was an average increase of 146 sexual offences and 116 specifically rape cases per day, predominantly rape, compared to the same period between 2018-2019.  

Researchers from the Wits School of Governance suggest that the lockdown measures are likely to be the cause of this increase in GBV , as women were forced to stay home and left vulnerable to domestic abuse. In addition, the lockdown has prevented access to civil service groups dedicated to supporting victims of GBV . Yet, victims already faced issues seeking support and justice before the pandemic. In South Africa, reports of GBV are often dismissed by the police who perceive the issue as a private matter for families, rather than a criminal matter for the courts. There is also stigma associated with sexual violence. Together, these factors contribute to the underreporting of GBV cases.

A Secondary Pandemic

Although South Africa’s experience with GBV is not unique , the extent and prevalence of the issue, compounded by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, has triggered a ‘secondary pandemic’ in the country marred by rising femincide rates and GBV. Unlike Covid-19 however, GBV is spread through social and political conditions that undermine the ability of women and girls to escape from abuse. 

Signs of public backlash suggest the rise of GBV might meet significant resistance should it continue to escalate. For example, when the body of Tshegofasto Pule, a 28-year old woman from Johannesburg, was found in the city’s West Rand district two years ago, thousands came out to protest against the government’s ineffectual approach to GBV . The perpetrators, Pule’s boyfriend and another man, were only charged in February 2021, unfortunately reflecting the slow response of South Africa’s justice system to many cases of this nature.

Although President Ramaphosa pledged $75 million to strengthen the criminal justice system and provide better care for victims of GBV, many women and children continue to suffer on a daily basis. However, the additional funding has failed to curb the exponential rise in cases of abuse and rape. According to a recent study by Amnesty International, there is public outrage about the institutional failures to deliver justice for GBV victims , given that South Africa’s Domestic Violence Act of 1998 explicitly states that victims may lay criminal complaints against offenders. Furthermore, funding intended for refuge centres for victims of GBV has either not been sufficient or not reached the centres who were due to receive it. By April 2020, many domestic violence shelters had already reached capacity even though the scale of the GBV crisis was yet to peak.  

Experts say that domestic violence in South Africa is culturally deep-rooted and can be traced to the Apartheid era. Grassroots movements including Black Womxn Caucus and Women and Men Against Child Abuse have repeatedly urged the government to do more to ensure that the swift prosecution of cases. However, there are fears that the legislation may not be enough alone to decrease the numbers of cases linked to gender-based violence in the country. These same movements are, in addition, suggesting that changes in attitudes and approaches to gender will be just as important as legislative changes.  

Worryingly, South Africa’s recent emergence from lockdown in February 2021 came with growing concerns that another lockdown will be necessary given the slow roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine. South Africa’s GBV crisis could have global implications for women’s rights. In 2020, we celebrated the 25 th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action , one of the cornerstone international agreements for gender equality. South Africa’s commitments from the declaration had paved the way for notable progress, but as we move towards the Sustainable Development Goals’ deadline in 2030, it remains uncertain how the unfolding GBV crisis in South Africa will hamper efforts to meet the SDG Goals and their respective targets in less than 10 years time. 

Final Remarks

In the month of International Women’s Day, when we highlight the ongoing need for governments and institutions to commit resources to advance women’s rights, South Africa’s gender crisis is a stark reminder of the persisting barriers to gender equality and rights faced by many women around the world. Unfortunately, South Africa’s situation is far from unique . Globally, calls to helplines have increased five-fold in some countries as rates of reported intimate partner violence increase because of the Covid-19 pandemic . Restricted movement, social isolation, and economic insecurity are increasing women’s vulnerability to violence in the home around the world . In Africa though, the situation is particularly bleak. In Kenya, a twelve-year-old girl in Kenya was forced into marrying two men in the space of a month before being rescued by local authorities. 

As South Africa begins to rebuild following the Covid-19 pandemic, grassroots activists in the country are hoping to see a renewed commitment to tackling GBV. Ultimately, it remains to be seen whether or not the government will push through any further plans of action aimed at reducing instances of GBV within the country. 2021 could prove to be a decisive year for South Africa as it emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic as well as an ongoing women’s rights crisis.

About Author

Valeria Minisini

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