Over the last year, many cases of gender based violence against women have come to the fore. The recent murder of Uyinene Mrwetyana, Leighandre Jegels and other women have sparked outrage in South Africa.
It has sparked much discussion around the way men treat women, and most activists are in agreement that South African society is patriarchal and misogynistic.
"In South Africa at the moment, the reason we have such a big problem with it [GBV] is because South Africa is incredibly misogynistic, incredibly patriarchal and incredibly violent as well. So the mixing of those ideas really has the worst impact on women and children." said activist Amaarah Garda. The prevalence of violence against women is very severe across Africa where around one third of African women report experiencing domestic violence both physical and sexual. Violence within the family, especially experienced by women, is attributed to ancient socioeconomic conditions that shape social norms about marriage patterns, living arrangements and the productive role of women. In fact, in several African countries, more than 50% of women aged 15 to 24 believe that domestic violence can be justified under certain circumstances. South Africa was also found to have the highest rate of rape in the world at 132.4 incidents of rape per 100,000 people. "The sad thing about gender based violence is that most violence occurs by intimate partners. Often, men in relationships think they have the authority - the duty even - to discipline women." added Amaarah Garda. Labeebah Latib, a young woman who was attacked by a group of males on campus, said it would take" countless of years" to achieve a non-violent society. "I have to be realistic. I think anything is possible but that doesn't mean that it's something that is possible right now or can happen instantly. We could only get closer to that if the correct drastic measures are taken." "In my personal opinion I think that we are very far away, there are still lots of things to be done to get just a few steps closer to that." For Labeebah Latib, the first step in starting is to create an environment where victims find it safe to speak out. Listen to the full interview below:
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AuthorZahid Jadwat is a South African writer, columnist, podcaster and radio show host. Archives
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