Drop in cases is illusory

GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE: DOWN BY TWO-THIRDS IN GAUTENG

Sonke Gender Justice points to slow police follow-up and difficulty getting to police stations.

Lockdown conditions appear to have dramatically shifted the level of gender-based violence (GBV) in Gauteng, according to official statistics. But a drop in cases does not necessarily mean fewer women are being abused.

Answering questions from Democratic Alliance (DA) MPL Refiloe Nt’sekhe, Gauteng community safety MEC Faith Mazibuko revealed that between 1 March and 30 April this year, 5 082 GBV related cases were opened at Gauteng police stations.

During the same period last year, 15 929 cases were reported, indicating a decline of nearly twothirds.

This data also seemed to support Police Minister Bheki Cele’s earlier claims that his department’s crackdown on alcohol sales had reduced incidences of violent crimes, including GBV.

But these were not figures to celebrate, suggested spokesperson for Sonke Gender Justice Bafana Khumalo. Not least of all because of the relatively low rate at which cases were followed up and the probability that lockdown prevented thousands of women from reporting these crimes in the first place.

“That is not really a statistic anyone should celebrate, because 5 000 cases of gender-based violence remains very high.

“It might have dropped from last year, but I think there are a lot of reasons why this may be so.

“For instance, a lot of women have been caught up with their perpetrators in the same house,” said Khumalo.

The increased freedom of movement under lockdown Level 3 could see these figures skyrocket, he warned.

This was due to the statistically high prevalence of alcohol-related cases of GBV, which could resurge with the unbanning of alcohol sales.

More cases were likely to end up being reported in the coming weeks, Khumalo added, as freedom of movement increased. But this could also put women in more danger of violence outside the home.

Nt’sekhe said the figures indicated very little action was being taken against perpetrators of gender-based violence, despite the police having fewer cases to deal with.

Of the more than 5 000 cases opened, only 3 373 warrants of arrest were issued, resulting in just 204 convictions (See story below.)

Gauteng has the highest statistics for violence against women and children.

Last year’s police data revealed that Gauteng had 53 837 reported cases of crimes against women and children.

This was followed by the Western Cape with 46 092 reported cases and KwaZulu-Natal with 33 667.

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That is not a statistic anyone should celebrate