November 4, 2004
By Sheree Russouw
SOUTH AFRICA is still home to "shockingly high" levels of violence against its women and children, despite a world-renowned constitution and a legislative overhaul that now safeguard women's rights, an NGO specialising in gender issues says.
Gender Links is one of a collection of civic organisations - joined by the City of Johannesburg's Office of the Speaker - who are hoping their Sixteen Days of Activism on Gender Violence campaign later this month will help stem such abuse in South Africa.
This year organisers are tapping into the internet in the hope that their cyber dialogues will "make IT work for gender justice" when the campaign gets under way on November 25, International No Violence Against Women Day.
Men and women will be able to participate in debates with senior government officials and NGOs to air their views on gender violence at community centres across the country. The Department of Correctional Services, Government Communication and Information Systems, the City of Johannesburg, which is serving as a hub, and an array of NGOs will coordinate the internet arm of the campaign.
Gender Links deputy director Kubi Rama says the campaign aims to empower women in particular to use the internet, encourage people to speak out against abuse and link South Africans via the internet "in a common cause". The internet discussions will be structured around specific themes such as the effectiveness of the criminal justice system in tackling abuse, the role of religion in gender violence and child maintenance issues.
South Africa, says Rama, needs to close the gap between the "rhetoric of gender equality" and the "reality on the ground".
Gender Links says the country has made impressive strides in recognising the roles and rights of women and children.
The constitution recognises gender equality as the cornerstone of South Africa's democracy, and new legislation such as the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act and the Domestic Violence Act have been lauded for enforcing the rights of women.
But more needs to be done. "Changing laws can be swift," says Rama. "Giving them effect and changing the mindsets that often render them ineffective is a much more demanding task.
"We have special offences courts that achieve a 64 percent conviction rate, compared to the 7 percent conviction rate in normal courts … women who turn on their abusive partners are treated more harshly by the courts than men who commit femicide."
The most recent police statistics show that crimes against women and children are not decreasing, despite a general - albeit small - decline in criminal activity. The police say about 6000 children were abused in 2003/04, but children's rights groups dispute this, saying the figure is far higher because police definitions discount rape, indecent assault and the abduction of children.
Similarly, over 50 000 cases of rape were reported to the police in 2003/2004 but it remains an underreported crime in South Africa. The Law Reform Commission estimates as many as 1.7 million cases of rape occur every year.
But public education campaigns help "break the silence" and may see more rape survivors report their cases to the police, says Bongani Linda of the police's family violence, child protection and sexual offences unit.
"It's important to have these cases reported because we are not just dealing with the offender, but want to help the victim with counseling and medication to protect her from HIV/Aids. The trauma of rape is not just a scar on a woman's body, but on her soul too."
Gender Links' Rama says South African men need to change their attitudes towards women and the "socialisation that makes a man feel he is entitled to use his wife's car for his philandering - and kill her if she says no."
Men, too, are often victims of abuse, says Linda. "And not all men are rapists…these Sixteen Days campaigns are often when we see men marching for the rights of women. We need education, because people know their rights but don't know how to use them."
He suggests the upcoming 16-day campaign would reach more South Africans if it were run throughout the year. "South Africa may be the most developed country in Africa but it is not winning its war of violence against its women and children," says Linda.
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