Don’t blame all of GBV on alcohol

The recent uptick in cases of gender-based violence cannot solely be attributed to the resumption of the sale of alcohol, but is rather part of an ongoing social problem worsened by the current lockdown.

According to gender research expert Prof. Antje Schuhmann from Wits School of Social Sciences, similar lockdowns elsewhere have generated a global spike in violence against women and femicide. This was likely to have impacted on the domestic relationships between the men and women, not only in South Africa but globally.

Under the lockdown women found themselves locked up with perpetrators, who were most likely family members, husbands or boyfriends. Moments of privacy to reach out for help were most likely unavailable, and for many women, the state-imposed house arrest made it difficult to escape.

Schuhmann said the killing of young women Tshegofatso Pule in Gauteng and Naledi Phangindawo in Mossel Bay, had to be seen in light of generally very high levels of gender-based violence, which has been described as a long and ongoing “state of emergency” all women in South Africa experience. Therefore it is too easy to simply attribute the attacks against women at this time as being alcohol-induced, only because it coincides with resumed sales of liquor.

In the cases of Pule and Phangindawo it symbolised that gender-based violence was not new in South Africa but an old problem that preceded the lockdown.

“So far we have no data which speak to gender-based violence during the different levels of the lockdown,” Schuhmann said.

“Violence against women has many historic and social components and cannot be reduced to one factor only. There were multiple factors that contributed to gender-based violence that needed to be weighed up against one another. We do know that in many countries worldwide the abuse of women and also of children has increased tremendously during the often stressful experience of being locked up, maybe losing work, mourning and general insecurity.

“Different countries have tested different campaign formats in order to reach out to women during the rare times they were able to be in public spaces, such as advertising helplines in pharmacies or supermarkets. Generally, women who would like to report their abuse have to face many hurdles, however victimisation was particularly easy during lockdown as the access to state or civil society institutions was particularly limited.”

As violence against women is often portrayed as so-called “stranger-danger”, the sad reality is that it is much more likely that women become abused by men they know and often love.

Social sciences and communications graduate Zizipho Naki said South Africa needed to first address individual psychological and patriarchal problems if it is to overcome gender-based violence. She said the country and society in general including homes still embraced patriarchy.

“The problem is how boys are raised. Boys are taught to be boys and that they must be rough and must not cry. Instead, you must bottle up your emotions and never have to face them. The problem is they just cannot communicate and their way of communication is physical strength, showing there is a constraint there,” she said.

That’s why men view any expression of emotion as a weakness, they are told that crying is a women’s thing. They were unable to tell what was inside them and they bottled up those emotions to become something that one day would explode.

“That’s where the issue is. The issue is that communication is embraced in women but not men because this is how men are and how boys are. They are taught to act in a certain way from a very young age,” Naki said.

To fix patriarchy, South Africa needs to fix how men are raised and they must face their childhood trauma where they were taught to resolve matters by violence. Not being able to face their childhood trauma raised the mental issues which must be confronted.

Schuhmann said “it is of particular importance that the educational system must be reformed in order to empower girls as well as boys who do not perpetuate toxic masculinities. In addition, men in the public and political sphere must be held accountable and not let off the hook when perpetrating disrespect and violence against women or queer people, simply all those, they consider as not equal to them”.

Naki said: “Destroying the patriarchal system means destroying how boys are raised, redefining what a man is, and how men and boys view women. By destroying the patriarchal system, it means a man sees a woman as equal and therefore as someone that they have to respect, and not somebody who could be bullied around.”

Where there was no patriarchy, women would be able to feel free to go to the police station to report abuse without being looked down upon by the male police officer.

“Destroying the patriarchal system would mean that our country actually prioritises women’s rights and it would mean that gender-based violence is seen as a bad thing,” said Naki.

– ericn@citizen.co.za

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