Leane Ramsoomar
SINCE 1995, National Women’s Day has been observed annually in South Africa to commemorate the march of about 20 000 women to the Union Buildings in Pretoria 62 years ago to protest against the apartheid government’s extension of passes to black women.
The march represented the courage and collective agency of South African women challenging the notion that women are bound to the kitchen and home and life in the shadows of men.
It stood out as a day signifying triumph, courage and social justice.
Fast forward to this year, the high rate of physical, sexual and emotional violence against intimate partners, the alarming level of rape and femicide and the normalisation of violence against women and girls paints a picture of anything but a just society for women.
Our headlines are full of horrifying stories of health and rights violations of women and girls across the racial, class and age spectrum.
At the centre of this phenomenon is the fundamental devaluation of the lives of women and girls.
It’s important that the ubiquity of gender-based violence remains in the public eye, and importantly, in the collective conscience of society.
But we must move beyond just awareness raising and social commentary to fully understanding the possibilities of preventing it.
Global and local evidence shows that gender-based violence is driven by numerous factors, such as poverty, unemployment, (now more than 30%), limited education, lack of basic services, as well as lack of dispute resolution skills, women’s limited power in relationships, and social norms that regard violence as acceptable. Alcohol misuse is also widely implicated as a driver.
Attributing the causes of genderbased violence is far from simple. Multiple pathways account for the complexity of factors that drive it. But a number of studies show it is preventable. We must broaden the knowledge base on the causes, pathways and intersection of the factors that drive gender-based violence if we are to prevent it.
What will it take to move beyond the rhetoric, often well-meaning but materially insignificant promises to “fight for women’s rights” uttered by too many?
The asks are not small and they are located across many domains of life. We must begin in the home by parenting children in a way that ensures boys and girls have equal opportunities and support and are not boxed into the gender roles that often trap them in a world of victimhood (girls) or toxic masculinity (boys).
We need to teach our children problem-solving skills that are violence free, to listen to them and believe them when they tell us they have a problem. This will enable children to report the slightest instance of discomfort when confronted with sexual or physical abuse. We must empower women and girls through their lives by facilitating their access to quality education, keeping them in school and equal opportunities for LEANE RAMSOOMAR
gainful employment and economic empowerment.
This will enable their meaningful participation in society and maximise the chances of breaking the cycle of grinding poverty.
We need to recognise that schools are too often sites of exposure to risk factors for violence generally, but particularly for girls. We should get involved in schools as parents so we know what is happening in the place where our children spend most of their days.
We need to ensure that prevention of gender-based violence and the response to the sexual assault of girls is prioritised. We need schools to become safe havens where girls are protected.
The well-known fact that common forms of violence are usually perpetrated by intimate partners (husbands, boyfriends, partners) means we cannot ignore a focus on interpersonal relationships. One way to do this is to strengthen communication within such relationships, while recognising that antecedents to behaviours are rooted in both intrapersonal issues, such as gender inequitable attitudes as well as structural factors such as poverty and unemployment.
We must challenge social norms in every context that regard the use of violence against women and girls as acceptable. We must create safe spaces for women and girls where they live, work and play.
It’s a huge task to reduce structural inequalities such as poverty, low education and high unemployment, but these must be recognised as social factors that fuel genderbased violence. We remain far from achieving the level of political will and institutional capacity required to prevent and respond to the violence. Prevention must be backed by meaningful political will as well as an investment in resources to ensure in prevention planning, implementation and effective implementation.
Finally, challenging violence requires the social and political agency demonstrated by the 20 000 brave women in 1956. Women of every race, social class, age and sexual orientation must continue to organise and mobilise against gender-based violence. We must work tirelessly toward many more days that signify triumph, courage and social justice for all women.