The danger of being a woman in South Africa

Good Day My Love Bugs.

Since it is Women’s month I want to wish all of you a beautiful happy Women’s month. Keep on being the pillars of our communities and the powerful matriarchs that you are.

As we celebrate Women's month we must not forget all those who have lost their lives to Gender Based Violence (GBV). Unfortunately, GBV is very prevalent in South Africa, and this year alone 41695 cases of rape have been reported. Keep in mind that these are only the cases that have been reported excluding the number of deaths. What is GBV? According to the Violence Against Women Journal, GBV is a violent act primarily directed at someone specifically because of their biological sex or gender identity.

In simpler terms, GBV is a human violation act. I think we fail to realize the impact GBV has on individuals, families, communities, and society more broadly. On an individual level, GBV leads to psychological trauma and can have psychological, behavioral, and physical consequences. In many parts of the country, there is poor access to formal psychosocial or even medical support, which means that many survivors are unable to access the help they need (Saferspaces, 2022). Women who have been raped are at risk of unwanted pregnancy, HIV, and other sexually transmitted infections. The justice system is also failing many victims of GBV as a lot of perpetrators still roam the streets. It seems that the law is not on the side of women, the system is filled with corruption such as making dockets disappear and bribery. Families and loved ones of victims can also experience indirect trauma and many do not know how to provide effective support.

Looking at a few statistics according to Saferspaces, an estimated 16% of all HIV infections in women could be prevented if women did not experience domestic violence from their partners. Over a third of women who have been raped develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Between 25% and 40% of South African women have experienced sexual and/or physical IPV in their lifetime. There are five interrelated types of violence these are physical, verbal, psychological, sexual, and socio-economic violence.

What enables GBV? Firstly, it is society and culture. In many cultures, men's violence against women is considered acceptable in certain settings or situations. Male superiority is also the problem this has to do with men feeling entitled to sex with women, strict reinforcement of gender roles, and considering women to have low social value. I would also add that the over-sexualization of women's bodies also adds to that. The constant placement of women in unrealistic standards for example the BBL era, lean girls era, etc. The craze femininity content on teaching women to be more 'lady like' or soft to attract an alpha male or 'high-value man' is an enabler. Religion plays a part too because most people weaponize religion to enable GBV.

The notion that Feminism is a concept created by Europeans to make African women hate African men has to stop and is part of the enabling. Women have the right to not be tortured, harassed, or abused. Joko has a few tips on ending GBV such as reporting abuse and do not be an ally to victims of domestic violence. Educate yourself knowledge is power by doing this you can empower victims of abuse with information about how abuse works. Give support to domestic violence victims. Ending GBV would also mean men calling out other men. Approaches to GBV can be divided into response and prevention. Response services aim to support and help survivors of violence such as medical help or providing shelter. Prevention initiatives look at how GBV can be prevented from happening. The latter should be emphasized. 

There is this spoken word poem called ‘Auditioning for my funeral’ by Tari Nyamayaro on Instagram. Her poem is a monologue where she talks about her fear of turning 19 in South Africa as which means her life expectancy has been lowered. It talks about the horrid abuse and torture she would go through as a GBV victim and what her funeral would look like. There is so much fear in being a woman in South Africa, a simple act of going to the post office would result in you never being seen again. How many times have we changed our profile pictures to purple? How many hashtags have been made? Most importantly how many names have you had to remember? Say no to GBV. The cycle needs to end with us.

Till next time.

Amantle