TRACING THE ROOTS OF GBV IN SOUTH AFRICA
By Ruth Nombuso Zuma University of Witwatersrand (PDRF-FALF) School of Public Health
“The common occurrence of GBV in South Africa is largely due to the formal systems of social inequality, racism, and patriarchy that ruled the colonial and apartheid periods and whose legacies continue today.” Burris and Ottawa 2022
GBV experienced in all facets of life is a knock- on effect of the reality that South Africa is a violence-prone country. The abuses and brutal killings of women, girls, and LGBTQI+ community members in homes, workplaces, places of worship, entertainment areas, and learning institutions attest to the notions of South Africa as an unsafe country. Older people and people with disabilities are no exception to these experiences as media coverage reports reveal cases of old women raped and sometimes killed in their homes. While GBV affects global communities, research (Burris and Ottawa 2022) demonstrates that South Africa bears the highest prevalence where one in every three women and girls have experienced some form of GBV. Furthermore, research (Ibid) reveals that GBV disproportionately affects women and girls. Men’s violence against women remains a pervasive feature of life in every country in the world (Peacock and Barker 2014). The upsurge in killings of women and young girls is worrisome; as such, South Africa has become an unsafe place for its people.
June 2023 | Collective Action Magazine
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