Most domestic violence, date rape and other relationship assaults can be prevented or stopped through knowing and using relationship safety strategies and skills, according to Pretoria-based crime investigator Mike Bolhuis.
With Women’s Month being celebrated, Bolhuis offered women relationship safety strategies and skills to prevent and stop acts of gender-based violence (GBV).
Some of the skills Bolhuis said women should remember to include:
– assessing the perpetrator’s behaviour and being aware of potential danger signs;
– centring and calming oneself down so they could think clearly;
– make safer choices instead of panicking or escalating an argument; and
– protecting oneself emotionally instead of being triggered or coerced by the things someone says.
He further said the verbal self-defence tactics could be used to diffuse a potentially violent altercation along with protecting oneself physically without fighting back and creating a safety plan on how to leave the situation and how to get help.
“Talking to someone you can trust can also be very helpful,” Bolhuis said.
He also said his company, Specialised Security Services, was “once again” inundated with divorce cases and other GBV cases.
“The spectrum of victims ranges from the poorest of the poor to the extremely wealthy. This trend is exasperated by the current economic turmoil, the lingering effects of Covid-19, devastating poverty and loss of jobs.
“Women – as the centre of every household – continuously remain the target of abuse and violence,” Bolhuis said.
The forms of abuse women were subjected to, he said, including physical, verbal, psychological, sexual, socio-economic and harassment.
The Domestic Violence Act 116 of 1998 defines domestic violence as “physical, sexual, emotional, verbal, psychological and economic abuse which also relates to intimidation, harassment, stalking, damage to property, entry into a complainant’s residence without consent when the parties do not share the same residence along with any other controlling or abusive behaviour towards a complainant”.
Such conduct would harm or cause imminent harm to the safety, health and/or well-being of the complainant.
The act affords domestic violence victims protection from domestic abuse which the law could provide.
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