By Marichen Van Der Westhuizen & Glynnis Dykes
In response to a wave of protests following a spate of brutal attacks on women, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has again committed himself to addressing this problem urgently.
In a recent speech he emphasised the need for harsher sentences for the perpetrators of gender-based violence and femicide. He also announced an “emergency action plan” to combat the problem.
The plan, to be implemented within the next six months, includes:
- Additional funding for a host of new interventions, as well as for sexual offences courts,
- The need to address patriarchal attitudes and practices that encourage domination and violence,
- Emphasis on interventions that include men, youth at risk and offenders inside of prisons,
- Making sure that women’s rights and gender/power relationships form part of the education system,
- Gender sensitivity training for the police, prosecutors, magistrates and policy makers,
- Amending laws to ensure harsher punishment for perpetrators.
The president’s plan is commendable. But, previous efforts to address the problem have failed. Research on gender-based violence has shown that services for victims and perpetrators are often not available, or aren’t accessible to people who need them.
Also, where these are available, interventions are for periods that are too short to be effective. And there is lack of sensitivity from service providers, leading to secondary trauma for the victims. Finally, there has been poor alignment of the available resources.
These mistakes can be avoided if the president, and his team, draw from research that’s been done by academics on the issue of violence against women. We believe that research has a distinctive role to play because it gives pointers on what is needed to create long-term change.
