(Commissioned by Soul City, April 1997)
By Anu Pillay
April, 1997
Introduction
Violence against women is an ever-increasing problem. It extends to violence at home, into society and has become a method of systematic assault on femininity. The human rights tradition privileges a certain type of personality - an individual endowed with rights, guided by reason and empowered with dignity. Since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, this has been the vision which has sustained many of the political, economic and social experiments of the modern world. Violence against human beings has been one of the major factors which has prevented the realisation of human rights goals in the Twentieth century. War, repression, and the brutalisation of public and private life have destroyed the possibility of human rights being enjoyed as a universal phenomenon.Violence against women, in particular, has inhibited women as a group from enjoying the full benefits of human rights. Women have been vulnerable to acts of violence in the family, in the community and by States. The recorded incidents of such violence have reached such unprecedented proportions that they have shocked the conscience of the world. As a result, the international community has decided to take concerted action against incidents of violence against women as part of the general campaign for human rights.
Women are vulnerable to violence because of their female sexuality (resulting in, inter alia, rape and female genital mutilation); because they are subjected to a man (domestic violence, dowry deaths, sati, intimate femicide) or because they belong to a social group, where violence against women becomes a means of humiliation directed at the group (rape in times of armed conflict or ethnic strife). Women are subject to violence in the family (battering, sexual abuse of female children, dowry related violence, incest, deprivation of food, marital rape, female genital mutilation), to violence in the community (rape, sexual abuse, sexual harassment trafficking in women, forced prostitution) and violence by the State (women in detention and rape during times of armed conflict).
As is stated in the Preamble to the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women. Violence is part of a historical process and is not natural or born of biological determinism. The system of male dominance has historical roots and its functions and manifestations change over time. The oppression of women is therefore a question of politics, requiring an analysis of the institutions of the State and society, the conditioning and socialisation of individuals, and the nature of economic and social exploitation. The use of force against women is only one aspect of this phenomenon, which relies on intimidation and fear to subordinate women. If the roots of female subordination lie in historical power relations within society, then the institutions of State and civil society must accept responsibility for female subordination, including violence against women. The State bears a primary responsibility not only to refrain from encouraging acts of violence against women but actively to intervene in preventing such acts from taking place (The Hindu Online : Violence Against Women).
Brief Background to International Human Rights
Until very recently, international human rights organisations have neglected the problem of violence against women. One cause of this neglect was their narrow reading of the broad language of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which is the most influential treaty within the traditional human rights movement and receives more resources than other human rights instruments and has more effective implementation mechanisms. The narrow interpretation of this covenant facilitated the protection of male-defined culture, family or religious rights often at the expense of women. As a result of global mobilisation of women, and international attention to certain ongoing atrocities, both official and private violence against women have begun to be recognised as a humans rights concern. By insisting that "women's rights are human rights" women are asserting that widespread gender based discrimination and abuse of women are devastating realities as urgently in need of redress as other human rights violations. The challenge to human rights thinking and practice posed by women for three decades crystallised around the second world conference on Human Rights (Vienna, 1993), and later at the International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo, 1994), the World Summit on Social Development (Copenhagen, 1995) and the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995) (Kenneth Roth, Domestic Violence as a Human Rights Issue & Rhonda Copelon, Understanding Domestic Violence As Torture).
At Present
The concept of violence against women is now exposed internationally in its various forms and dimensions and defined as" violence perpetrated in the domestic sphere which targets women because of their role within that sphere or as violence which is intended to impact, directly and negatively, on women within the domestic sphere and may be carried out by both private and public actors or agents." The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women defines violence against women as "any gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats or such acts of coercion or arbitrary deprivation or liberty, whether occurring in public or private life." This definition was stated to encompass, but not be limited to:
- Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family including battering, sexual abuse of female children in the household, dowry-related violence, marital rape, female genital mutilation and other traditional practices harmful to women, non-spousal violence and violence related to exploitation;
- Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring within the general community, including rape, sexual abuse, sexual harassment and intimidation at work, in educational institutions and elsewhere, trafficking in women and forced prostitution;
- Physical, sexual and psychological violence perpetrated or condoned by the State, wherever it occurs.
International Instruments
The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1994, calls on States to "pursue by all appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating violence against women" and amongst other things to "exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate and, in accordance with national legislation, punish acts of violence against women, whether those acts are perpetrated by the state or by private persons. (A UN declaration is not a treaty, which States may ratify and be bound by, but is a non-binding resolution which sets out a common international standard that States should follow).Women victims of violence have an equal right to the enforcement of the law as any other victim of violence, and a pattern of non enforcement amounts to unequal and discriminatory treatment. Article 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) guarantees that: All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without discrimination to the equal protection of the law. In this respect, the law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any ground such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
The U.N. Human Rights Committee, which monitors the compliance of state parties with the ICCPR, has further held that the state not only has a duty to protect its citizens from violations, but also to investigate violations when they occur and bring the perpetrator/s to justice. The provisions of the ICCPR were strengthened in 1979 by the adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). CEDAW prohibits discrimination against women, defined as: any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field. In 1992, the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, established under CEDAW, adopted a general recommendation and comments which set out how CEDAW covers violence against women and what governments should do to stop such violence. First, the committee stated that the general prohibitions of gender discrimination "includes gender-based violence - that is, violence which is directed against a woman because she is a woman or which affects women disproportionately. It includes acts which inflict physical, mental, or sexual harm or suffering, threats of such acts, coercion or other deprivations of liberty." Secondly, the committee confirmed that violence against women constitutes a violation of human rights whether the perpetrators are state officials or private individuals, noting that: "States may also be responsible for private acts if they fail to act with due diligence to prevent violations of rights or to investigate and punish acts of violence, and to provide compensation."(Human Rights Watch, 1995).
In order to fulfil their recommendations under CEDAW, the committee found that States must take all measures necessary to provide effective protection to women, including: Effective legal measures, including penal sanctions, civil remedies and compensatory provisions to protect women against all kinds of violence, including inter alia violence and abuse in the family, sexual assault and sexual harassment in the workplace; Preventative measures, including public information and education programmes to change attitudes concerning the roles and status of men and women; Protective measures, including refuges, counselling, rehabilitation and support services for women who are the victims of violence or who are at risk of violence.
In January 1993, State President FW de Klerk signed CEDAW together with other UN Conventions relating to women's rights. On 15 December 1995, CEDAW was ratified. The other treaties signed were the Convention on the Political Rights of Women (of 20 December 1952); the Convention on the Nationality of Married Women,( of 29 January 1957); the Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriage ( of 7 November 1962); and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (ratified by SA on June 16, 1995).(Human Rights Watch, 1995). Aware that violence against women had become a critical matter requiring priority attention, the UN Commission on Human Rights on 4 March 1994, adopted resolution 1994/45 in which it was decided to appoint a Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences.
Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy was appointed for a period of three years. Ms. Coomaraswamy's Mandate Included: seeking and receiving information on violence against women, its causes and consequences from governments, treaty bodies, specialised agencies, other Special Rapporteur on human rights, intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations and women's organisations; recommending measures, ways and means, at the national, regional and international level, to eliminate violence against women and its causes, and to remedy its consequences; carrying out field missions, either separately or jointly with other special rapporteur and working groups. The Special Rapporteur has scheduled field visits to cover all geopolitical regions. Information and materials were requested from governments on national legislation, relevant court cases, training programmes for judges and lawyers, police practice and training procedures, special policies and institutions concerned with women victims of violence, statistical data and information on national plans of actions in the areas of: violence in the family (including domestic violence, traditional practices, infanticide, incest, etc.); violence in the community (including rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, commercialised violence such as trafficking in women, prostitution, labour exploitation, pornography, women migrant workers, etc.); violence by the State (including violence against women in detention and custodial violence, as well as violence against women in situations of armed conflict and against refugee women).(Summary of the First Report of the UN Special Rapporteur).
The special rapporteur's first report set forth the international legal framework condemning domestic violence and detailed actions that were currently being pursued by governments to reduce the occurrence of domestic assault. With regard to State responsibility, she wrote: In the context of norms recently established by the internationalcommunity a State that does not act against crimes of violence against women is as guilty as the perpetrators. States are under a positive duty to prevent, investigate and punish crimes associated with violence against women. The body of international human rights law and the evolving international consensus clearly acknowledges State responsibility for accountability for abuses by private actors. The clear message for the new South African government is to uphold its international obligations and to summon the political will to end impunity for perpetrators of domestic violence and rape (Human Rights Watch, 1995).
The State Responsibility
International law requires States to show due diligence in preventing and responding to human rights violations. With respect to violations of bodily integrity in particular, governments have a duty to prevent , investigate and prosecute such abuse, including cases in which the perpetrator is a private citizen. Where States do not prohibit such abuse or routinely fail to respond to evidence of murder, rape or assault of omen by their intimate partners, they send the message that such attacks are justified, or at a minimum will not be punished. In doing so, States fail to take the steps necessary to protect their female citizens rights to physical integrity and, in extreme cases, to life. To the extent that this failure reflects discrimination on the basis of gender and / or race, it also constitutes a violation of the State's international obligation to guarantee equal protection of the law. Therefore, a "State can be held complicit where it fails systematically to provide protection from private actors who deprive any person of his/her human rights (Human Rights Watch, 1995 & Roth).The South African Situation
South African women remain second class citizens despite the changes since the first democratic elections on April 27 1994. Economic, social and legal inequalities persist. Women are subject to widespread violence that prevents them from enjoying the other rights and privileges that they are ensured of by the constitution. Both domestic violence and sexual assault are pervasive in South Africa and are directed almost exclusively against women, often in places in which they should be safe and by people that they know and should be able to rely on. Women's organisations estimate that one in three women will be raped, one in six women is in an abusive relationship and that one women is killed every six days by her intimate male partner. These are issues of immediate concern to women across the political and racial spectrum.South African women victims of violence continue to face a judicial and police system that routinely denies them redress. Women, regardless of race, complain of indifferent or hostile treatment from the criminal justice system; and black women in particular face lingering racial prejudice in their interactions with the State. Police are frequently ignorant of the laws protecting women from violence and, within the courts, judges often discount rape survivor's testimony and give lenient sentences to rapists. Sentencing patterns and condemnations meted out to men who kill their intimate partners is left to the discretion of the presiding judge resulting in extremes in sentencing patterns. Often the cultural, traditional or religious justifications advanced are upheld thus condoning these violations and undermining the spirit of the Declaration on Violence against Women article 4 that " States should condemn violence against women and should not invoke any custom, tradition or religious consideration to avoid their obligations with respect to its elimination". The South African government, at the highest policy-making levels, has expressed a commitment to addressing these forms of violence against women. We have outlined previously which International Conventions have been signed and ratified by our Government.
CEDAW is of particular importance in monitoring the State response to Violence Against Women. The implementation of the Convention is monitored by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The Committee's mandate and the administration of the treaty are defined in the Articles 17 to 30 of the Convention . The Committee is composed of 23 experts nominated by their Governments and elected by the States parties as individuals "of high moral standing and competence in the field covered by the Convention". At least every four years, the States parties are expected to submit a national report to the Committee, indicating the measures they have adopted to give effect to the provisions of the Convention. During its annual session, the Committee members discuss these reports with the Government representatives and explore with them areas for further action by the specific country. The Committee also makes general recommendations to the States parties on matters concerning the elimination of discrimination against women. According to CEDAW article 18 states:
Article 18
- States Parties undertake to submit to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, for consideration by the Committee, a report on the legislative, judicial, administrative or other measures which they have adopted to give effect to the provisions of the present Convention and on the progress made in this respect:
- Within a year after the entry into force for the State concerned; and
- Thereafter at least every four years and further whenever the Committee so requests.
- Reports may indicate factors and difficulties affecting the degree of fulfilment of obligations under the present Convention.
Key Gender Issues
The key gender issues that have emerged from the literature and the interviews are in line with the 12 critical areas of concern as outlined in the Beijing Platform of Action. Violence Against Women is definitely an issue that is high on the agenda at the moment. However, it was felt from the organisations dealing with this issue that Government response is reactionary depending on how high the media profile of the issue is and who is affected by the violence. Ordinary Black women are subjected to this type of violence daily but high energy responses are only elicited when the survivors are white or high profile women (Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre). Violence Against Women is still not a public health issue despite the overwhelming evidence that women who are at the receiving end of violence have serious health problems with phenomenal costs to society (Women's National Coalition).
Violence Against Women as a Human Rights Violation
Ordinary South Africans largely appear not to be highly cognisant of Violence Against Women as a human rights violation, of international human rights law or the fact that a Government could be held complicit for allowing Violence Against Women to continue to happen by virtue of its international obligations. The general impression from the NGO sector is that the international instruments are good strategic tools to embarrass Governments into action. The Women's National Coalition, however, seems determined to demand that Government can be held accountable internationally and should be taken before the International Court should Government inaction persist. Literature emerging from Government departments do not place Violence Against Women firmly within the human rights framework. There is no literature on recourse for civil society should Governments not comply with its international commitments nor is there any significant movement towards educating the general public or women in particular.The draft Domestic Violence Bill from the Department of Justice Law Commission would benefit from close comparison with the recommended legislation outlined by the UN Special Rapporteur as it is not comprehensive enough. There is a gaping lack of reliable, systematically collected evidence about the scope and nature of violence against women and other women's rights issues in South Africa. There is no co-ordinated movement by either government or NGO's towards empirically proving that a particular form of violence is responsible for the subordination of women as has been done with other human rights violations against a class of people. For example, if it can be shown statistically that violence against women is prosecuted less often (or less rigorously) than comparable acts of violence, a strong case of discrimination can be made according to the commitment to CEDAW. Systematic data gathering is difficult since the criminal justice system often does not keep statistics on the gender of the victim, the relationship to the offender, or the locale of the crime.
Perception of Government Action
The Constitution has failed to protect women.The Prevention of Family Violence Act is flawed and needs comprehensive overhauling. Government Departments are using NGO expertise and time to gain credibility and to produce documents without an understanding of the issues themselves. Their understanding of gender issues is distorted. They all need serious gender training which needs to be mainstreamed to all departments. The main perception of Government from all organisations interviewed is that there are some things happening but it is not enough to stem the tide of Violence Against Women in this country.
- The perception of Government in the rural areas is that they are detached and unconcerned with rural issues. People there expressed strong feelings of helplessness and isolation from the mainstream movements happening in the urban centres.
- Government does not appear to have a strong strategy or plan to implement the policies and commitments that it has made on paper. On 11 September 1995, the South African Government committed itself in Beijing to:
- ratify CEDAW by the end of the conference;
- create a national consciousness regarding violence against women;
- increase the provision of shelters for battered women; help assure that single mothers have adequate support and that fathers are financially responsible for their children.
National Strategy for Implementation of the Beijing Platform For Action
We, members of Parliamentarians for Global Action's International Network for the Empowerment of Women, urge our governments to adopt a clear strategy for implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action. The Platform for Action must state explicitly the role of national parliaments in the formulation, adoption, implementation and monitoring of national commitments. We urge governments to adopt the following measures to ensure that implementation is swift, transparent and accountable to the people's of our countries and the world. Central in our strategy is the setting up of clear national and international structures and a call for re-orientation of national policy-making and government action in accordance with the spirit of the Platform for Action. This is reflected in the two special themes: Peace, Demilitarisation & Socio-economic Development and Decision-Making. Commitments made in the Platform for Action must be matched with the realistic framework of implementation which is proposed in the following:
- National Structure
- National Committees
Parliamentary Committee on Women
In addition to the various committees of parliament, there should be established a Parliamentary Committee on Women. The Committee should also have one member from all other parliamentary committees to ensure that the status and needs of women are "mainstreamed" in the work of the parliament. The National Committee and the Parliamentary Committee on Women should work closely with each other and with NGOs and officials of community-based organisations and local bodies to ensure feedback and access of the people to the process.
Transparency and Accountability
The quarterly reports to Parliament by the Chair of the National Committee should be public record as should the work of the Parliamentary Committee on Women; Members of the civil society - NGOs, community and government officials, individuals should be regularly invited to testify to the Parliamentary Committee on problems related to the status of women in the community. Such testimony and recommendations should also be public record.
International Structure
Intergovernmental: National Committees should report annually to the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) on the progress of all aspects of the Beijing Platform for Action. These National Reports should be publicly available to NGOs and the press. Non-governmental: Governments should recognise and support NGOs which form a vital network of monitors, advocates and supporters for the implementation of the Beijing Platform.
Peace, Demilitarization and Social Development:
National security must not be considered exclusively in military terms. The concept of national security must focus on human security and human development needs. We recognise that social goals cannot be achieved if the nations of the world continue to arm themselves at the current rate. Government should strive to cut their defence/military spending and allocate the savings to social programs which will promote human security and development.
Prevention of Conflict
More effort and resources need to be directed at the prevention of conflict and peace-making. Conflict prevention and resolution efforts must also involve relevant NGOs and community organisations. Women, who become the victims when peace efforts fail, must be actively involved in peace-making and peace maintenance efforts and should be included in national security structures in their countries. Peace education at the school, community and national academic institutions must be encouraged with adequate resources. Women educators must be active participants in devising, teaching and researching these curricula.
National & International Decision-Making:
The empowerment of women as decision-makers must be institutionalised by legislative measures at all levels of human society. Experiences have shown that when left to voluntary guidelines, social structures continue to impede the achievement of equal status for women. Temporary affirmative action, therefore, is needed in all spheres of governmental and non-governmental decision-making spheres.
National Measures
As parliamentarians, we urge our political parties, leagues of voters, parliaments and governments to establish and monitor affirmative action goals for women to progress. We propose 33.3% as the minimum critical mass required immediately with the goal of at least 50% of all decision-making positions by 2010. The eventual goal is that women as decision-makers should become as acceptable a norm as their male colleagues, thus making the necessity of affirmative action temporary. The specific form such measures will take should be left to each country and community to decide. Progress in this area should be monitored by the National Committee and by the Parliamentary Committee on Women.
International Measures:
Despite a series of Conferences calling for women's empowerment, inter-governmental and international organisations, including the United Nations System, have an abysmal record in the selection, recruitment, and promotion of women to decision-making levels. As the organisers of the Beijing Conference, the United Nations System which includes its affiliated agencies, must immediately present a workable plan for at least 50% employment of women at all levels of staff. Recruitment and selection policies at the UN and its agencies must be made more competitive and open.
- In order to facilitate the above, the governments of the world should match their action to their words by:
- Whenever nominations are made to the United Nations system and other inter-governmental organisations, ensure that at least 50% of the nominations are women;
- Make such lists of candidates available as public record;
- Name more women as their Permanent Representatives to the United Nations and other inter- governmental organisations;
- Nominate and elect a woman as the next secretary-general of the United Nations. (Uncompromised Beijing Declaration: Strategies for Implementation).
What is Being Done Here in South Africa
A Handbook on National and Provincial Machinery for Advancing Gender Equality has been produced by the Department of Welfare. An Office on the Status of Women has been conceptualised and a CEO appointed. The NGO sector feels strongly that a political head needs to be appointed without delay to give this office political power. Letters are to be sent out by the Women's National Coalition by 21 March demanding that this be done. A Commission on Gender Equality has been established in the Department of Justice. The Coalition is contesting the 2 million rand budget that has been allocated to the Commission for a 5 year period. In relation to the +74 million allocated to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, this figure is seen to be ridiculous. A CEDAW core group has been established to monitor the implementation of CEDAW and to develop the NGO shadow report. An Ad Hoc Joint (Parliamentary) Committee on the Improvement of the Quality of Life and Status of Women has been set up with Pregs Govender as the chair. Parliamentary hearings were held on 10 February on Violence Against Women. The Department of Justice have come out with a strategy for the protection of women and children. A campaign will be launched soon. Police Training is being done in the Gauteng Province by the Regional Network on Violence Against Women in conjunction with the Gauteng Department of Safety and Security.The ANC women's caucus organised a snap debate on 11 March 1997 on Violence Against Women where reference was made to the international conventions. A Parliamentary Women's Group has been established but most of the effort on this issue of Violence Against Women is coming from the ANC Women's Caucus. This group is also planning to develop a booklet for parliamentarians on what they can do in their constituencies around this issue. The Deputy Minister of Justice has been tasked to deal specifically with Violence Against Women. Tshwaranang, a new legal advocacy centre, plans to make Violence Against Women an election issue for 1999 to hang over the political parties like a sword of Damocles. The National Institute for Public Interest Law and Research have compiled booklets on CEDAW in accessible language and have started training programmes for rural women on understanding their rights in relation to CEDAW.
The Law Commission have produced a discussion document that addresses the issue of Violence Against Women. Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre is in the process of reviewing this document and preparing a comprehensive feedback report. Their initial response to the document is that it is a good attempt to address the failings of the Prevention of Family Violence Act and that it does take international legislation into account. However, the recommended Domestic Violence Bill which has emerged from this discussion document is extremely conservative and actually makes the legal procedures for redress much more complicated.
Co-Ordination Between Government Departments and the NGO Sector
The response to Violence Against Women from Government service providers and policy makers remains largely inadequate and uncoordinated. Assistance to women can only succeed through a concerted and co-ordinated effort on the part of a number of different departments, particularly the Departments of Justice, Welfare, and Safety and Security. There is a dire need for agreed strategies for response and referral at national level, coupled with directed funding to provide shelters, welfare payments, health services, legal assistance, counselling services and education. The South African Government appears to be dealing with these issues and does have knowledge of the international commitments and instruments. The question is, are they dealing with it adequately and are people with the expertise being consulted?A strategy for implementation has not emerged and budgets have become a major issue. Co-ordination between government departments remains poor and it is difficult to obtain to co-ordinated response from government to any of the issues affecting women. There also appears to be a lack of co-ordination between Government and NGOs and amongst the NGO sector itself in terms of the flow of information. The setting up of the National Network on Violence Against Women was meant to bring together the different government departments and NGOs involved in offering support to women survivors of violence. This network is struggling to get off the ground with one of the main problems being inconsistency of government commitment. The Department of Welfare appears to be the only government department with any consistent involvement with the network. The NGOs involved in this initiative are seriously reconsidering their relationships with Government and questioning the viability of trying to work in partnership with Government.
Rural Areas
The lack of services and information evident in the urban areas is multiplied in the rural areas, especially the former homelands. State services are virtually non-existent, police more ignorant and more prejudiced, and women themselves less educated with access to fewer personal resources.. Interviews with rural women in the Mpumalanga area showed a complete lack of information regarding International Instruments, Government commitments and even national legislation like the Prevention of Family Violence Act of 1993. The Beijing Conference was talked about with amusement and as being a negative lesson to women who dared to challenge their status. This was said with reference to the State President's divorce settlement and the consequences his ex-wife now faces. There was no understanding of how policies and commitments made internationally could possibly impact on their lives. Violence Against Women in the area is rife and continues unabated. Women expect it and do not have any sense whatsoever that their human rights are being violated. They do not expect any assistance and do not receive any. They are grossly uninformed and have no idea what resources are available or where to access them from Government or any other agency.
Obstacles and Barriers
Budgets remain a problem and the low budgets allocated to the National Machinery and to the implementation of Government commitments demonstrate the low priority that Government is actually giving to these issues. Much lip service is being paid by Government and while this at least provides a starting point from which to lobby there is a feeling that the issue is still not being taken seriously.A lack of understanding of what gender is a recurrent complaint from the NGO sector. Most people understand Gender to be a Women's issue. It was felt that skills training on gender sensitivity was a huge need for urban and rural people and particularly for Government personnel. No serious effort seems to be emerging to reach rural people, women in particular. Information and action seems to be concentrated in large urban areas like Johannesburg with very little outflow into the peri-urban and rural areas. Government inaccessibility emerged as a major block to receiving and giving information for all the organisations interviewed. Most people had access to information and documents through their personal networks rather than being able to go to a central information point in any department.
Conclusion
The inadequate response of the State to violence against women is one more problem that the South African government has inherited in the minefield of problems from the apartheid era. Even though the new government has stated its commitment to addressing this heritage by responding to the issue of violence against women and sex and gender discrimination problems remain throughout the system. There still appears to be a permissive attitude, a tolerance of perpetrators of violence against women, especially when this violence is expressed in the home and large scale ignorance of national and international laws and obligations. Responding adequately to the problem of violence against women in South Africa is going to need much more effort than national conferencing, handbooks and papers, and lip service being paid to the International Conventions. The South African government must be forced to recognise that in the context of norms recently established by the international community, a State that does not act decisively and significantly against crimes of violence against women is as guilty as the perpetrators.
Recommended Actions to Be Taken at the National and International Levels
The nature of violence against women, its prevalence, persistence and high incidence throughout the world demand States to adopt strategies to fulfil their international obligations effectively, and if statistics demonstrate that existing laws are ineffective in protecting women from violence, States must find other complementary mechanisms to prevent violence against women. Use the model legislation formulated by the Special Rapporteur when demanding government to enact legislation on domestic violence. Demand that government ratify all international human rights instruments. Withdraw any reservation on all human rights instruments. Particularly the Convention On The Elimination Of All Forms Of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Adopt and ratify an optional CEDAW protocol which would allow women the right to seek redress for violations against their human rights.Demand government to comply with the reporting requirements of the various human rights instruments and ensure the inclusion of gender-specific information to all such instruments. Demand government to undertake legal literacy campaigns to inform women of their legal rights and educate men and women about domestic violence as a crime. Implement in the plan of action further specific recommendations listed in Ms. Coomaraswamy's report from (e) to (w), pages 38-41. Do not hesitate to use, when necessary, the confidential Violence against women information form, to request justice to any violation committed against women.
To receive the documents of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, contact
Ruby Norfolk.
Email: ruby_norfolk@ecunet.org
Literature Reviewed
CEDAW in South Africa - National Institute for Public Interest Law and Research, Pretoria (NIPILAR)
CEDAW Text - http://www.feminist.org
Commission on Human Rights 52nd Session Item 9(a) of the provisional agenda
Domestic Violence as an International Human Rights Issue - Kenneth Roth
Domestic Violence Bill - Justice Department Law Commission
Handbook on National and Provincial Machinery for Advancing Gender Equality - Department of Welfare
Intimate Terror : Understanding Domestic Violence as Torture - Rhonda Copelon
Prevention of Violence Against Women Campaign - Department of Justice Interim
Report of the Gender Study Visit to Uganda and Australia - Department of Welfare
Report on the National Conference of Commitments - National Post-Beijing Planning Committee - Ministry of Welfare and Population Development
Report on the South African Government's Commitments arising out of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing 1995 - Department of Welfare
We Won't Be Beaten. A Guide to the Prevention of Family Violence Act - National Institute for Public Interest Law and Research, Pretoria (NIPILAR)
Summary of the First Report of the UN Special Rapporteur - Ruby Norfolk, Associate for the Advancement of Women, World Wide Web.
The Hindu Online: Violence Against Women - http://www.webpage.com.hindu
The Private Is Public - A study of violence against women in Southern Africa - Women In Law and Development in Africa, Harare, Zimbabwe (WiLDAF)
Uncompromised Beijing Declaration: Strategies for Implementation - World Wide Web
Violence Against Women in South Africa - State response to Domestic Violence and Rape.
Human Rights Watch Africa
What is happening with CEDAW- Marion Stevens, Women's Health Project
Interviews
Joanne Fedler - Director Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre to End Violence Against WomenMohau Pekoe - Director National Women's Coalition
Linda Vilakazi - Gender Consultant
Rebecca Holmes - Women's Parliamentary Caucus
Mmbatho Ramagoshi - National and Regional Network on Violence Against Women
Judi Fortuin - Advocacy person - National Primary Health Care Network
Florence Maleka - Department of Welfare
Community Health Workers, Komatipoort, Mpumalanga
Teacher at Inyoni Farm School, Komatipoort, Mpumalanga
Health Professionals and Students on Phelophepa Primary Health Care Train, Weeks 11 and 12, Komatipoort and Barberton.
Community Health Volunteer Group - Barberton, Mpumalanga.
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