In a speech at the beginning of 2021, President Cyril Ramaphosa called gender-based violence (GBV) SA’s “second pandemic”. Prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, the numbers were already painting a grim picture. Between 2015 and 2020, it’s estimated that seven women were murdered a day.
We know what happened next when the lockdown hit in March 2020. The crisis escalated. Vodacom’s Gender-Based Violence Command Centre saw a 65% increase in calls from women and children confined to their homes during lockdown and in need of urgent help. In fact, the 2021 Human Rights Watch Report highlighted that our country has one of the highest levels of intimate partner violence in the world, with 51% of women enduring untold abuse at the hands of their partners, whom they trust.
So, when President Ramaphosa approved the package of legislation to bolster the state's capacity to address gender-based violence on January 28, it couldn’t have come soon enough. These amendments affect the Criminal and Related Matters Amendment Bill, the Domestic Violence Amendment Bill, and the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act. All three are crucial pieces of legislation that have the power to turn the tide on the growing wave of GBV in SA.
Tougher laws now put the victim first. These amendments allow for stricter bail conditions. Additionally, a complainant can give evidence through an intermediary and provide evidence to be given through audio-visual links and for the National Register for Sex Offenders to include those who have committed crimes against people who are intellectually disabled.
This is an encouraging move given that, according to the World Bank, women and girls with disabilities are often targets because of their “limited physical mobility or means of communication”, with children on the autism spectrum, as well as those with hearing, visual, psychosocial, or intellectual disabilities, the most vulnerable.
Clearly, for women and girls with disabilities, the risk of falling prey to GBV is incredibly high. This group “experiences a two-fold discrimination based on their gender and their disability,” adds the South African Medical Research Council. With the latest census statistics revealing that the ratio of women to men is higher within the 7.5% of the population living with disabilities, the SAMRC’s concern is one that must be taken seriously. In fact, international estimates of this risk have found that people with disabilities are four to 10 times more likely to fall victim to crime than the rest of the population. Our efforts to protect this group must be accelerated.
Tougher action will also be taken against SA Police Service members who don’t take victim’s complaints seriously, and who don't comply with their obligations to protect and serve. This is an important element in the fight against GBV. Research shows that many cases of violence against women and children go unreported because of fear victimisation in the hands of police. This amendment means that police will need to handle cases of gender violence with a high level of sensitivity and care. We can only hope this means more victims come out to report cases, possibly resulting in more offenders being brought to book.
Furthermore, under the amended Domestic Violence Bill, any adult who suspects that domestic violence is taking place against a child, a person with an intellectual disability, or an elderly person, now must notify a social worker or the police. Not doing so will be a criminal offence. Could this be the answer to addressing a the long-held culture of silence that keeps domestic violence behind closed doors? The amendment also enables online applications for domestic abuse protection orders.
The fight involves all of us. At Vodacom we are deeply committed to ending this scourge and have pledged R10m towards the private-sector-led GBV and Femicide Response Fund 1 that supports government. We believe in the power of technology and how, through increased accessibility, it can be used to address the digital divide in the fight against GBV. It is for this reason we launched the Bright Sky SA app, a zero-rated app that offers a risk assessment and awareness tool for anyone in an abusive relationship and the GBVCC in partnership with social department.
• Netshitenzhe is the external affairs director at Vodacom SA
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