Criminalising gender-based violence is not enough: Despite strong legislation, South Africa is failing to address its unacceptable rates of woman abuse
of black and minority ethnic women having experienced abuse from multiple perpetrators. This is often the case because minorities are usually the most vulnerable and most marginalised groups in society.
In 2020, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared GBV South Africa’s second pandemic and noted that it needed to be taken as seriously as the coronavirus. Already named the “rape capital of the world” by Interpol, South Africa continues to grapple with increasing rates of domestic abuse, sexual violence and femicide.
This year, Ramaphosa signed into law legislation aimed at strengthening efforts to end GBV in the country including the Criminal Law Amendment Act Amendment Bill, the Criminal and Related Matters Amendment Bill, and the Domestic Violence Amendment Bill. Because there are many layers to GBV and socioeconomic issues such as teenage pregnancy and economic inequality are interlinked with GBV, addressing GBV is a complex endeavour. So, what can be done?One of the biggest barriers to enforcement is underreporting, which limits our ability to wholly understand the magnitude of GBV in the country, weakens criminal deterrence, and enables such crimes to continue.
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