South Africa has one of the highest rates of gender-based violence in the world, and it’s only getting worse. However, we believe there is light at the end of this tunnel, and we are pleased that the government is playing their part in combating domestic violence and supporting survivors of abuse. Here’s a breakdown of some of the support being offered by the government:
Amendment to the Sexual Offences Act
- Earlier this year, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the Sexual Offences Act would be amended to broaden the categories of sex offenders whose names must be added to the National Register for Sex Offenders. The register is a database that was established in 2009 to list the names of sexual offenders who have been found guilty of sexual crimes against minors and mentally impaired people.
- Ramaphosa has also publicly voiced his views on making the National Register for Sex Offenders public. “We call on you [parliament] to make the sex offenders list publicly accessible on online and mobile platforms that anyone can easily access,” Ramaphosa said. “This list should be a free government site so that anyone can access the list even when they don’t have data.”
Improving survivors’ access to adequate support structures
- R517-million has gone towards improving survivors’ access to adequate support structures.
- R16-million has been allocated towards building five new Thuthuzela Care Centres (TCCs) and upgrading the existing centres. The government plans to have 60 of these centres by the end of March 2021. Thuthuzela Care Centres are designed to support gender-based violence survivors to access medical care, report a crime and receive trauma counselling.
- Funding towards hiring over 600 social workers to offer psycho-social support at GBV facilities and shelters.
Giving victims and survivors access to justice
- Three bills have been developed to tighten laws that are related to the imposition of sentences, the granting of bail and the protection afforded by the National Register for Sex Offenders.
- The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure has handed over 9 buildings to the Department of Social Development so that they can be used as additional shelters in Western Cape and Gauteng.
- The Emergency Response Action Plan (ERAP) formed a Cold Case Task Team to revisit cases that were never brought to trial and they’ve since analysed over 785,000 dockets.
- Ensuring that rape kits are available at all police stations across the country.
Streamlining GBV programmes
- The government is in the process of establishing a GBV and Femicide Council which will report to the president and be supervised by the Commission for Gender Equality.
Prevention efforts to tackle patriarchal systems
- Mass media campaigns were rolled out by the government to target convicted offenders, men’s groups and youth to educate men on the toxic beliefs and attitudes that lead to GBV.
- There are plans in place to include tackling gender-based violence in universities and to promote gender equity in the school curriculum.
- GBV sensitivity training has been provided (and is still being provided) to Law Enforcement Officers across the country.
We appreciate all the efforts made by our government to make South Africa a safer place and to end domestic violence once and for all. JOKO has partnered with POWA on the ‘#EndDomesticSilence’ initiative to empower women to speak out against domestic violence in South Africa. They donate R1 from every pack to POWA which amounts to R5 million every year to help create safe spaces where victims of domestic violence can end the silence and end the violence.
