Millions of SA children face physical abuse – study on GBV

Findings should serve as a source of shame – minister

Different forms of violence often start early in many children's lives and people with disabilities, especially young women, seem to be worse off.

This is according to the first-ever gender-based violence study in SA conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC).

“If you look at what it translates to, those numbers are concerning. If you are having women every year being raped, physically assaulted, and whatever... it increases the number of men who are perpetrating violence each and every year,” said Prof. Nompumelelo Zungu, the council's deputy director .

Zungu said that despite more than 20% of men surveyed admitting to having perpetrated violence in their lifetime, about 84% of them said they were aware that there were laws in SA about violence against women. 

“So, we asked if they have perpetrated these acts of violence, sexual and physical violence and 16.7% indicated that they have perpetrated physical violence against their partner and 7.5% [perpetrated] sexual violence against their partner."

She also said  research showed that more men experienced physical abuse in their childhood.

"About 77.6% of men, which translates to 14.5-million, experienced physical abuse before the age of 18, while 15.7% of them, which translates to just over 3-million, experienced sexual abuse in their childhood," she said.

The report also revealed that:

About 42.5% of women with disabilities, which translates to 722,857 women, have experienced sexual or physical abuse

More than 77% of men agreed with a statement of controlling behaviour such as "I like to let her know she isn't the only partner I could have", and "When I want sex, I expect my partner to agree".

About 4% of girls, which translates to 880,530, experienced sexual abuse before the age of 15 while 58%, translating to 11,996,096, experienced physical abuse before 15 years.

Some men justified violence in certain circumstances and perceive laws as overly lenient toward women – highlighting a clear disconnect between legal knowledge and behaviour toward GBV.

About 9.9% of men said that when a woman is raped, she is to be blamed for putting herself in that situation.

About 27% of woman cohabiting with their partners have experienced either physical or sexual abuse in their lifetime. 

Childhood trauma plays a pivotal role in both victimisation and perpetration.

According to Zungu, there should be interventions for addressing psychological social behaviour.

"Social, health and mental health services; coordinating support services, to focus on enhancing interventions for substance use, mental health, and gender-affirming care," he said.

If you are having women every year being raped, physically assaulted, and whatever... it increases the number of men who are perpetrating violence each and every year.

The report was then handed to minister of women, youth and persons with disabilities, Sindisiwe Chikunga, who said it calls for an immediate call of action.

"The findings should serve as a source of shame, the findings and the recommendations of this study will contribute to our ongoing focus on prevention and protection for victims and ensuring that perpetrators are held accountable," she said.

Chikunga also urged victims of gender violence to leave abusive relationships.

“If you can’t cope with that relationship please leave, you will find another one,” she said.

The study was aimed at determining factors associated with gender-based violence victimisation and perpetration such as gender and sexual norms and attitudes.

It focused on violence against women which included economic, emotional, sexual, and physical.

The study was collected through face-to-face interviews in more than 1,000 communities that were randomly picked where about 10,000 people were interviewed, 5,600 of them being women while 4,400 men participated.

The data was then benchmarked against Stats SA’s 2022 mid-year population.

The 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children, a global campaign, will kick off next week Monday.

Some of the recommendations from the HSRC report:

• Improve coordination between police, justice, social and health services for comprehensive support to GBV victims/survivors, children, individuals with disabilities and perpetrators.

• Increase access to quality GBV services for those unable to reach one-stop care centres, like Thuthuzela Care Centres.

• Improve access to GBV services, particularly in remote or marginalised areas.

• Ensure adequate provision of safe houses and/or shelters for women and children.

• Develop comprehensive, age-appropriate communication strategies to address harmful beliefs.

• Educate children about their rights, where to seek support and ensure that assistance is accessible, confidential and reliable.

• Create and integrate age-specific, evidence-based anti-violence programmes for children, young people, parents, teachers and school staff to address GBV.

• Implement accessible, child-friendly services for child survivors of GBV, ensuring equal access for boys and girls, and allocate dedicated social workers to work with schools.

• Implement early detection and empathetic responses to childhood violence and bullying to prevent future GBV.

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