GBV: At least 7 million South African women have experienced physical violence

33.1% of all women aged 18 years and older are vulnerable to physical violence in their lifetime.

This was revealed by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) which presented the findings of the first South African National Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Study of 2022 to Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga on Monday.

The figures translate to an estimated 7 310 389 women who have experienced physical violence in their lifetime.

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Among all women, 9.8% (an estimated 2 150 342 women) have experienced sexual violence in their lifetime.

The combined physical and sexual violence prevalence in the country is 35.5%, which translates to 7.84 million women.

Dr Nompumelelo Zungu, HSRC Deputy Executive Director, highlighted that this is the first national-level study dedicated to GBV, conducted as a population survey. She noted that while South Africa has policies addressing GBV, progress is hindered by implementation, funding, and other challenges.

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Zungu highlighted that the research is extensive and will provide a detailed roadmap for policymakers, activists, and researchers to address South Africa’s ongoing GBV crisis effectively.

Some of the GBV findings

Prevalence of GBV among women 18 and older: Physical violence within the 12 months prior to the study found that 6.1% of women (about 1.3 million) experienced physical violence. For recent sexual violence, the figure stands at 2.0%.

Regarding inter-partner violence (IPV), the study indicated that recent physical violence stands at 5.2% while sexual violence is at 2.5%. The figure is higher over a lifetime, with physical violence at 22.4% and sexual violence at 7.9%.

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The study also looked at controlling behaviour, which indicated that 57.6% of women experienced this in their lifetime. Alarmingly, 77.2% of men have perpetrated this over their lifetime.

It also delved into child abuse, with 58% of women experiencing physical abuse at a young age. Zungu noted the figure was lower for sexual abuse.

“We suspect that this is as a case of under reporting because when we look at data from other studies women tend to have higher rates but for women, we measured it differently. We were looking at women before age of 15 and while for men we were looking at up to age of 18,” she said.

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