South Africa’s long-standing challenge with inadequate and incorrect reporting on gender-based violence (GBV) incidents and prevention efforts has been tackled by the Tears Foundation, which has released a report revealing precise statistics of locations and profiles of GBV incidences in the country, using its Help-at-Your-Fingertips (HAYFT) USSD helpline. Picture: File
Tears Foundation, in partnership with the University of Johannesburg (UJ), has released a report revealing precise statistics of locations and profiles of gender-based violence (GBV) incidences in the country, using its Help-at-Your-Fingertips helpline data.
The research, titled “A Call to Action to Prioritise GBV in South Africa”, examines the prevalence of violence in various districts, links population parameters to GBV, and suggests interventions in areas with high GBV prevalence.
In this four-year study report (January 2020–December 2023), the main subjects of analysis included time series data, call location, frequency, and prevalence during particular periods, such as school or holidays.
The Limpopo province has been shown to have the highest call rates, with 104 calls per 100 000 people (or 6 804 calls over the course of the four-year time frame). North West trails behind with 3 934 calls, or 103 calls per 100 000 people.
With call rates of 99, 97, and 93, respectively (2 920; 4 701; and 14 072 calls), the provinces of the Free State, Mpumalanga, and Gauteng round out the top five. According to the data, Sundays received the most calls (8 541), followed by Tuesdays (8 524) and Mondays (8 332).
Mara Glennie, founder of the Tears Foundation, believes precise statistics are crucial for improving data on GBV, aiding in the development of effective interventions, resources, and policies, and serving as a monitoring and evaluation function.
“Our findings come at a perfect time, considering President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) Bill, which will play a critical role in helping co-ordinate and provide strategic leadership to the efforts,” Glennie said.
“South Africa will only combat gender-based violence and femicide through strengthened work on prevention and response, which will only work through a multi-sectoral approach with promotion of gender equality at its core.”
While the findings are based on 53 004 calls received over the four-year period, this number excludes the calls that were not completed, wished to remain anonymous, and could not be captured for the sake of pure accuracy.
Professor Corné Davis, associate professor at the Department of Strategic Communication, Faculty of Humanities at UJ, also noted that the imbalance of power relationships in families and communities is partly the root cause of GBV.
Davis explained that while GBV affects both men and women, it tended to target women specifically for a variety of reasons and has a disproportionate impact on them.
Glennie emphasised the importance of addressing the issues of GBVF in South Africa, highlighting that they should not be put off any longer.
“The issue requires an immediate response that is innovative and collaborative. Part of this means improving and adapting responses to uncertain and challenging contexts, for instance, through technology and innovative approaches that allow us to expand the scale of services and do so with quality.”
Given the high frequency of GBV in the country, she said research indicates that people are aware of the various forms of GBV that are committed frequently in South Africa and concur that workplaces need to be included in the conversation about GBV.
In particular, prior studies, such as “Investigating the Effects of Gender-Based Violence in South Africa” and “The Expensive Effect of GBV: Private Sector Views and Experiences in South Africa”, demonstrated that GBV inevitably affects victims’ productivity at work and, consequently, the company’s profitability.
Following the earlier research results, the Tears Foundation also called on company executives to address issues such as gender discrimination and speak out against workplace gender disparity, all the while increasing support for women’s empowerment.
The Star
anita.nkonki@inl.co.za