Violence against women in South Africa: Perspectives from a mental health context

• Jurisdiction: South Africa
• Date: 14 September 2020
• Pages: 287-311
• Author: Parker, Z.
• Published date: 14 September 2020

287

Violence against women in South

Africa: Perspectives from a mental health

context

ZAREENA PARKER*

Violence against women and children remains a pervasive human

rights v iolation in Sout h Africa, despite laws and policies aimed at

preventing v iolence and advocating fo r the protection of the ri ghts and

dignity of women. The impact of violence on South African society

and on women’s mental health a nd qualit y of life is signicantly

encountered in ment al health contexts where many women present

for psychiatr ic and psychological treat ment. This d iscursive article

presents a menta l health practitioner’s perspective and hig hlights

experiences of working ther apeutically with fem ale victim-survivors

of violence in a psychiatric hospit al in the Western Cape. I argue

for greater intersectora l collabor ation and respon sive partnerships

between menta l health ser vices, non-governmental organ isations,

legal centres, the cri mina l justice system and civi l society. Further

recommendat ions are made to chal lenge discri minatory pr actices and

attitude s, and to strengthen violence prevention initiatives to enable

the empowerment and s afety of women in South Afr ican societ y.

I INTRODUCTION

Various forms of violence (including physical, emotional, social

and economic) occur in both the private sphere (for example,

relationships and marr iages) and the public sphere (for example,

community, institutional and traditional settings).1 A broad

denition of ‘gender-based violence’ (GBV) comprises a range

of violations against women and girls, and includes behaviours

that undermine their physical, sexual and emotional integrity.2

* C linical psychologist, Lenteg eur Psychia tric Hospit al; Lecturer,

Depart ment of Psychiatry and Mental Hea lth, University of Cape Town.

1 E G Krug, JA Mercy, LL Da hlberg & AB Zwi ‘ The world report on viole nce

and health’ (2002)36 0 The Lancet1083 at 1088.

2 N A brahams, LJ M artin & L Vetten ‘An overv iew of gender-based v iolence

in South Af rica and S outh Afr ican respo nses’ in S Su a, A van Niekerk &

A Duncan (eds) Cr ime, Violence and Injury P revention in Sou th Africa (2 00 4).

2020 Acta Juridica 287

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288 VIOLENCE AGAI NST WOMEN

GBV includes physical and sexual assaults perpetrated by intimate

partner s (often described as ‘domest ic violence’ or ‘intimate pa rtner

violence’ (IPV)), as well as physical and sexual assaults by non-

partners.3 Sexual violence against women and girls forms part of a

global plag ue of human rights violat ions.4 Another manifestation

of violence is ‘human tracking’, a crime described broadly as

human slaver y and usually involving the illega l trade of people,

mainly for the purposes of econom ic and sexual exploitation.5

Higher proport ions of women and girls intern ationally are aecte d

by both GBV and human tracking, due to vulnerability linked

to their economic, social and cultural conditions.6

For the purposes of this article, however, the term ‘gender-

based violence’ wi ll be used to include all form s of violence against

women, including violence they experienced as ch ildren, in public

and private spaces. This denition will cover a wider range of

violations and is in line with the legal denitions in legislation

such as the Domestic Violence Act,7 the Criminal Law (Sexual

Oences and Related Matters) Amendment Act,8 t he Childr en’s

Act,9 and the Prevention and Combating of Tracking in Persons

Act.10 The broader denition will be more comprehensive to

include the acts of violence discussed in the article.

The eradication of violence against women is one of the

sustainable development goals (SDGs) adopted at the United

Nations Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015.

This was the rst time that GBV had been explicitly included on

the international development agenda.

3 D K aminer & G Eagle Traumatic S tress in South Afr ica (2010).

4 C H awkins ‘Women’s huma n right s: The global i ntersect ion of gender

equalit y, sexual a nd reproduct ive justice, a nd healthca re’ (2012) 4 Journal of

Research on Women an d Gender 159 at 184; World Health Organ ization ‘Violence

again st women: Intimate pa rtner and sexua l violence again st women’ Fact sheet

(2017) available a t http://www.who.int/mediacentre/fa ctosheets/f s/en.

5 P revention and Combatin g of Tracki ng in Persons Act 7 of 2013.

6 U N Oce on Dru gs and Cr ime An Introduct ion to Human Tracking:

Vulnerability, Impact an d Action (20 08).

7 Act 116 of 1998.

8 Act 32 of 2007.

9 Act 38 of 2005.

10 Act 7 of 2013.

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