South Africa has one of the highest rates of gender-based violence in the world and this weighs down the country economically and socially.
This is revealed in a report The economic impact of gender based violence in South Africa by financial management company KPMG’s Human and Social Services unit. The report says the levels of violence are horrific and unacceptable and cost the country between R28.4 billion and R42.4 billion annually or between 0.9 percent and 1.3 percent of the GDP annually. This has a huge and negative impact which should worry everyone including policy makers, and business, political and community leaders. 88 percent of the cost is incurred by victims, 1.8 percent government, 3.1 percent by civil society and non-profit organisations and 6.4 percent by the business sector. The report says the huge cost is an important reminder of the urgency of work required to end gender-based violence.
Among others, the costs are for:
- Medical care
- Travel to medical facility and doctors’ fees
- Reproductive health e.g. termination of pregnancy, treatment of sexually transmitted diseases
- Psychological and psychiatric treatment
- Psychosocial care (counselling or other therapy)
- Medical aid premiums and payouts
- Pain and suffering
- Premature mortality (years of life lost)
- Disability or impaired functioning
- Loss of a loved one
- Children caught up in violence – foster care and shelter fees
- Missed school days and school fees
- Increased future use of government services
- Increased juvenile and adult crime
- Social workers, income support and welfare payments
- Interpreter services, creation of laws, policies, research, public information programmes and administration related to GBV
- Special education for children with behavioural problems and learning disabilities as a result of witnessing violence
- Training programmes to help women re-enter the workforce after abuse
- Violence education programmes in schools
- Lost tax revenues from lost productivity and employment (for both victim and perpetrator)
- Reduced educational attainment in victims and witnesses of violence.
The report recommends for government to fully estimate the resources required to implement existing gender-based violence legislation and to beef up intervention programmes. This it says should be through an intersectoral funding model for a better co-ordinated national response. This should be inclusive of business and also the non-profit sector which is inundated with GBV. Some in Alexandra like the Kidz Clinic and Agisanang Domestic Abuse Prevention and Training struggle with resources and capacity to contend with the scourge.
