University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB) senior lecturer in managerial economics and statistics, Dr Nthabiseng Moleko, believes that throwing money at fighting gender-based violence (GBV) is not a solution as such crimes continue to soar annually.
Speaking about violence against women and children, Moleko said various studies have shown that more than 50% of men who admit to using violence against women were themselves abused and predisposed to experiencing trauma.
“We need greater awareness and attention on dealing with mental health issues affecting men, as perpetrators of gender-based violence have issues such as depression, childhood trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder and alcohol abuse,” said Moleko, who is also deputy chair of the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE).
She said as SA entered into the annual 16 Days of Activism against GBV this week, the question was not whether the country had sufficient resources to deal with GBV, but whether those resources were being sufficiently directed at “deprogramming South Africans from violence”.
Moleko said SA spends less than 10% of the R157bn allocated to the criminal justice system on violence prevention and that money could be directed at other nation-building initiatives.
“Violence against women and children has a price tag. The R157bn allocated in 2020 to policing, social services for victims of crime, justice and correctional services is a massive opportunity cost. Those resources could be directed towards nation-building initiatives such as education, development of small businesses and entrepreneurs, empowerment and economic development,” she said.
She noted that while budget allocations to the criminal justice system increased annually, there was not an associated drop in violent crime.
Moleko said a key component of preventing violence was addressing misuse of alcohol through better policing of liquor regulations and illegal sales, and not allowing liquor outlets close to schools.
“South Africa is a very angry society. Unless there is healing in the nation, the behaviour of violence is repeated and becomes inter-generational. The cycle of abuse must be broken from the side of perpetrators. Healing the perpetrators will mean we have fewer victims,” she said.
Committee chairperson on social development Refiloe Kekana said despite many government interventions, in partnership with civil society and other stakeholders, GBV and femicide continue to be among the biggest challenges facing post-apartheid SA.
“Most disturbing about this reality is that all the current GBV and femicide statistics available on the public domain are purely based on reported cases. The figures are likely far higher as many cases go unreported. The society has also come to realise the impact of GBV on the mental wellness of victims,” Kekana said.
Kekana said as they grow increasingly aware of the mental health phenomenon, they were starting to see the connection between GBV and poor mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
“And more studies are emerging, proving that these conditions significantly increase the risk of attempted or completed suicide among women. Put differently, women and members of the LGBTQIA+ community who experience mental health challenges as a result of GBV are far more likely to have suicidal thoughts or surrender to such thoughts,” Kekana said.
Kekana said the legislature and other oversight bodies will continue to intensify scrutiny to hold accountable those entrusted with providing services to women and girls.
