Women urged to speak out on domestic violence

DURBAN North Police and the North Durban Victim Support have encouraged residents to speak out about gender-based violence. This comes after recent statistics on crime revealed that the number of women and children murdered in the country is shockingly increasing.

The police’s head of crime research and statistics, Major General Norman Sekhukhune, presented the South African Police Service Crime Statistics for the 2017/18 financial year in Parliament on last Tuesday.

Also read: Gender-based violence is an ‘evolving war’ 

Statistics involving women

Gender-based violence, as well as violence against children, has come under the spotlight recently with protests being staged across the country calling for an end to the scourge. Sekhukhune told members of parliament that when one brings together the statistics of women and children that fall victim to murder, more than 3 000 cases were reported over the year under review.

“When looking at the murder of women and children, what we [have] realised is that murders of boys, girls and women have increased. Girls have increased by 29, boys by 117 and women by 291,” he said.

Speaking to the Northglen News last month, activist against Gender-based Violence Beverley Mothlabani said in most cases women killings are a result of un-reported domestic violence.

Also read: Police need training on handling cases of abuse

“Most abused women are afraid of coming out and reporting their abusive spouses or family members. In most cases the abuse leads to the victim being killed, and had the violence been reported, the murder could have been prevented,” she said.

Situation in the Durban North policing precinct

Durban North SAPS spokesperson Captain Raymond Deokaran said even though they had a low number of domestic violence or GBV cases reported to them, he believes that it transpires in homes in the area.

“Domestic violence is not a policeable crime. We can’t go into individual homes checking if they are socially well. We are however urging all victims to come forward and report any form of abuse so they can get help before it’s too late,” he said.

Presenting raw data from the crime statistics, Sekhukhune said 2 930 women were murdered in the current financial year – up by 11 per cent when compared to the 2 639 women who were murdered over the previous financial year.

“The overall percentage contribution was 19.3 per cent of the murders, or 3 915 of the murders that we have recorded whereby a woman or child was murdered,” Sekhukhune said.

Also read: City intensifies war against gender-based violence

GBV not reported

North Durban Victim Support’s Mary Knox also added to Deokaran’s plea, reiterating the importance of reporting abuse.

“Some women don’t report the crimes because they are scared of the consequences. For example if the abuser is a bread winner, the victim suffers in silence because she fears that her or even her children will starve. We encourage all abused women in the area to come forward and ask for help,” added Knox.

The statistics further revealed that a total number of 36 731 sexual offences were committed against women during the year under review. Even though the number is still relatively high, this was a 1.7 per cent drop compared to the previous year.

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