The Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, has reiterated calls for increased vigilance and activism as the country battles gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF).
“We will soon be presenting our Year 1 Report on the Implementation of the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence to President Ramaphosa.
“What is clear is that even though government has committed an immense amount of resources to ending GBVF, men continue to abuse, rape and murder women.
“The department calls on all South Africans to play their part in fighting this scourge and to unite in the fight against GBVF,” Nkoana-Mashabane said on Monday.
The Minister said despite the reported high levels of GBVF, many incidents remain undocumented, underreported and are unaccounted for within national statistics.
“The 2020/2021 sexual offences statistics are yet to be released by SAPS [South African Police Service], however, in 2019/2020 SAPS recorded 53 776 sexual offences; 42 664 of these were rape cases.
“Whilst the final figure for the 2020/21 financial year has not been released, existing data has shown that the lockdown levels impacted on levels of reporting.
“Together, the four 2020/21 quarterly crime statistics indicated a total of 46 447 sexual offences. According to the 2020/21 statistics, 9 518 people were raped between January and March 2021,” the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities said in a statement.
Seeking help
The Department of Social Development GBV Command Centre also showed a dramatic increase in the number of calls, SMSs and USSDs, with the number of overall calls increasing significantly from 54 849 in 2019/20 to 157 952 in 2020/21.
The number of GBV referred calls increased three-fold from the previous financial year.
“This suggests that the lockdown levels impacted on women’s ability to report incidences or seek help through regular channels,” the department said.
The Department of Health reported a cumulative total of 36 363 new sexual assault cases at public facilities for the 2020/21 financial year.
“This number is not the complete picture, as it only covers public facilities. These numbers might be difficult to comprehend, or may even seem unbelievable to some,” the department said.
The department lamented cases where women opt to drop charges against abusers. “The circumstances range from women who are pressured to drop rape and sexual assault cases by their friends to prevent a falling out amongst friends and family members, or women who wish to marry and leave their past behind or women who can no longer bear the emotional burden of a case that is being investigated for years.”
The department calls upon all South Africans to play their part in fighting this scourge and to unite in the fight against GBVF.
“We encourage everyone to be on the lookout for early warning signs of gender-based violence and report anything out of the ordinary to SAPS for further investigation,” the department said.
Play your part
The department said action against GBVF can be taken in any of the following ways:
● Increase awareness and visibility: Incorporate GBVF key messages in all discussions, addresses in all aspects of your daily life.
● Utilise GBVF posters in your spaces.
● Partner with government, business, media houses, private sector in hosting GBVF events and heighten communications around GBVF.
● Leverage on other mega events such as sporting events, national days, themed days, conferences etc. to spread messages on ending GBVF.
● Host lectures, debates and discussions on GVBF on topics such as eradicating patriarchal attitudes.
● Host learner competitions on equality, justice and human dignity.
● Host engagements with men and boys to encourage positive masculinity.
● Utilise your social media platforms to condemn any form of GBVF.
● Report any act or sign of gender-based violence.
● Join www.for-women.co.za – a hub for survivors and victims who need help and corporates who can offer help. – SAnews.gov.za
