Gender Based Violence in South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 22-29
Author(s):  
Audrey Namdiero-Walsh
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Gender Roles ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Masculine Identity ◽  
Violent Behaviour ◽  
Gender Hierarchy ◽  
Violent Acts ◽  
The Common ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
And Gender

In Africa, and elsewhere, no unified masculine identity exists. However, in all societies, there are expectations about how male child and adult should act and behave. Each society determines gender roles and meanings of violent acts; and these meanings also vary depending on the context. This paper presents an overview on the common male child’s socialization practices in South Africa and how these contribute to a gender hierarchy that sees women as subordinate and even perpetuate violent behaviour against women. Using South Africa as example, where one of the world’s highest rates of violent crime and gender-based violence is recorded, this paper examines the association between apartheid’s racist and violent policies and existing masculine identities.

THE SINS OF THE FATHER: GENDER- BASED VIOLENCE IN POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyn Snodgrass
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Black Women ◽  
South African ◽  
African Women ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
And Gender ◽  
South African Women

This article explores the complexities of gender-based violence in post-apartheid South Africa and interrogates the socio-political issues at the intersection of class, ‘race’ and gender, which impact South African women. Gender equality is up against a powerful enemy in societies with strong patriarchal traditions such as South Africa, where women of all ‘races’ and cultures have been oppressed, exploited and kept in positions of subservience for generations. In South Africa, where sexism and racism intersect, black women as a group have suffered the major brunt of this discrimination and are at the receiving end of extreme violence. South Africa’s gender-based violence is fuelled historically by the ideologies of apartheid (racism) and patriarchy (sexism), which are symbiotically premised on systemic humiliation that devalues and debases whole groups of people and renders them inferior. It is further argued that the current neo-patriarchal backlash in South Africa foments and sustains the subjugation of women and casts them as both victims and perpetuators of pervasive patriarchal values.

scholarly journals Social constructions of gender roles, gender-based violence and HIV/AIDS in two communities of the Western Cape, South Africa

2006 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 516-528 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Strebel ◽  
Mary Crawford ◽  
Tamara Shefer ◽  
Allanise Cloete ◽  
Nomvo Dwadwa-Henda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Gender Roles ◽  
Social Constructions ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
Hiv Aids

A Growing Outcry of Gender-based Violence and Gender Inequality in South Africa : An Afrocentric Perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 7-24
Author(s):  
M.C. Moreroa ◽  
M.B. Rapanyane
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Gender Inequality ◽  
African Women ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
And Gender ◽  
South African Women ◽  
Global World

The two practices of gender inequality and gender-based violence (GBV) are not peculiar to South Africans, as they also affect the African continent and the Global world in different shapes and forms. Whatever happens, when these two unacceptable behaviours and/ practices take form, women often end up being discriminated, sidelined and violated. Against this backdrop, this paper analyses the state of gender inequality and GBV in South Africa and finds common features which exist between the two. The central narrative of this paper is that the two notions are, at a very faster pace, becoming subjects of considerable debate and concern. This paper argues that the two notions have depressing effects on South African women. Afrocentricity is adopted in this paper in order to relevantly and positionally reflect on the central objective.

The Plight of Women and Children

2014 ◽  
Vol 652 (1) ◽  
pp. 106-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol Bower
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Rural Women ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Women And Children ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Education Justice

Despite South Africa having ratified several international and regional women’s and children’s rights treaties, and having one of the most admired constitutions in the world, the plight of women and children after 20 years of democracy remains, in many respects, dire—especially in rural communities. South Africa is a deeply conservative and patriarchal society, with high levels of violence in general and gender-based violence in particular. It has failed to create sufficient employment opportunities and to sustainably address intergenerational poverty, the latter of which impacts most severely rural women and children. HIV/AIDS has wreaked its most adverse effects on women and children. This context is exacerbated by breakdowns in the health, education, justice, and security sectors; the relative inaccessibility of services (such as health care, schooling, and housing); and the frequently poor quality of services when they are available.

scholarly journals Guns and gender-based violence in South Africa

2010 ◽  
Vol 100 (9) ◽  
pp. 586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naeemah Abrahams ◽  
Rachel Jewkes ◽  
Shanaaz Mathews
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
And Gender

scholarly journals Challenges Faced by People Living with HIV/AIDS in Cape Town, South Africa: Issues for Group Risk Reduction Interventions

2010 ◽  
Vol 2010 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allanise Cloete ◽  
Anna Strebel ◽  
Leickness Simbayi ◽  
Brian van Wyk ◽  
Nomvo Henda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Cape Town ◽  
People Living With Hiv ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Fear Of Rejection ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Living With Hiv ◽  
Hiv Aids

This paper presents the findings of an exploratory study to investigate the challenges faced by people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in communities in Cape Town, South Africa. The primary goal of the study was to gather data to inform the adaptation of a group risk reduction intervention to the South African context. Qualitative methods were used to examine the experiences of PLWHA. Eight focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with 83 HIV-positive participants and 14 key informants (KIs) involved in work with PLWHA were interviewed. Findings revealed that AIDS-related stigma was still pervasive in local communities. This was associated with the difficulty of disclosure of their status for fear of rejection. Also notable was the role of risky behaviours such as lack of condom use and that PLWHA considered their HIV/AIDS status as secondary to daily life stressors like poverty, unemployment, and gender-based violence. These findings have implications for the adaptation or development of behavioural risk reduction interventions for PLWHA.

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