The Right and the Real: an analysis of responses to violence against women in South Africa.

1
The Right and the Real an analysis of responses
to violence against women in South Africa.

• Lisa Vetten

2
The South African fairy story

• The Womens National Coalition
• The National Gender Machinery (OSW, CGE,
  JMCIQLSW)
• The constitution gender equality, reproductive
  rights key decisions (Baloyi, Carmichele)
• Quotas to ensure womens political representation
• 1996 National Crime Prevention Strategy
• Progressive legislation DVA,CTOPA, Maintenance
  Act, RCMA

3
Living happily ever after...?

• Key political shifts
• 94 99 Mandela, inclusion, experiment and
  vision (from liberation movement to the
  establishment)
• 99 09 Mbeki, closing of space and the rise of
  the technocrat
• 09 Zuma, contradiction, resurgence of the left
• Key moments
• 2001 resignation of Pregs Govender from
  parliament (loss of a feminist champion)
• 2006 Zuma rape trial (schism and defeat the
  end of gender as politics? Culture moves strongly
  centre stage)
• 2009 Creation of Ministry for Women, Youth,
  Children and People with Disabilities (the
  beginning of the end of gender equality as a
  goal?)
• 2010 Sonke vs Malema (the triumph of
  personality over substance, men move centre stage)

4
Discourse

• From gender equality to vulnerability
• From gender machinery to one amongst many in the
  special interest basket
• Violence against women vs gender-based violence
• Transformation or representation

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Domesticators/neutralisers

• The Victim Empowerment Programme
• A crime control agenda (law and order)
• Quotas (representation vs transformation) as
  the number of female MPs and ministers has
  increased, so has attention to substantive gender
  equality decreased women have arrived.
• The 16 Days of Activism institutionalised and
  made boring

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Womens organisations

• An emphasis on practical needs, with strategic
  gender equity interests being more marginal
• Competition and capacity, resources high
  turnover of staff, loss of institutional memory
  and skills, loss of networks and influence
• Women are diverse unity not always easy
• Welfarism, feminism, motherism, protectionism
• The weakening of politics
• The absence of a strong movement around all
  aspects of gender equality

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The state

• Weak capacity
• Corruption
• Corporatism the movement away from citizenship
  towards customers and clients
• Competition for resources
• Novelty making different groups of women
  compete, making oppressed groups compete (the
  poorest of the poor)
• Absence of champions, the influence and strength
  of personalities
• Ideology emphasis on the economic and the
  revolutionary

8
Implementation of the DVA and SOA

• As a point of comparison 2 years vs 10 years
• An encyclopedia of sexual offences, mainly those
  committed against children and people with mental
  disabilities, no real gender equality gains (eg
  protective measures in court, specialisation,
  services)
• Clear illustration of the decline of womens
  political influence both within parliament and
  civil society

9
The SAPS

• 3 DVA reports submitted to parliament in 10 years
  (out of a possible 20)
• 1 121 complaints to ICD 2001 to 2008
• Disciplinary proceedings recommended in 83
• Instituted in 5
• Auditor-General, the SAPS, the ICD and
  parliament DVA training is inadequate
• 3 626 trained in 2008/09 (182 754)
• 3 181 trained in 2009/10 (190 199)
• No budget

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• Stations visited Period 100 compliant
• 245 stations Jan June 2006 2
• Jul Dec 2006 3 0
• 395 stations Jan June 2007 57
• Jul Dec 2007 28
• 434 stations Jan June 2008 14
• Jul Dec 2008 m13
• 522 stations Jan June 2009 11
• July Dec 2009 8

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• No SOA implementation reports submitted to
  parliament
• No SOA budget (1.2 million from US embassy)
• No SOA training reports submitted to parliament
  (or courses)
• 2 491 CSC officers trained
• 2 557 FCS and general detectives

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• 07/08 08/09 09/10
• Booysens 318 187 (-70.1) 190 (1.6)
• Dawn Park 128 252 (96.8) 102 (-147.0)
• Hillbrow 713 521 (-36.8) 233 (-123.6)
• Jhb Central 287 1 375 (379.0) 249 (-452.2)
• Krugersdorp 251 655 (160.9) 224 (-192.4)
• Sandton 64 142 (121.8) 271 (90.8)
• Durban Central 279 1 091 (291.0) 915 (-19.2)
• Margate 130 368 (183.0) 88 (-318.1)
• Mount Road 323 798 (147.0) 66 (-1 109.1)

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Department of Justice

• Extreme tardiness
• 5 years to develop magistrates guidelines around
  DVA
• 4 years to review DVA (is the end in sight?)
• NRSO part-implemented
• NPF more than two years late
• No implementation reports
• No information about training around DVA or SOA
• No budget R5.1 million for 624 names on NRSO
  estimated cost to SAPS alone R200 million

14
Protection orders

• 2008/09 222 912 applications
• 79 interims granted, 40 final
• 2009/10 225 232 applications
• 40 drop in Western Cape
• 63 interims granted, 34 final

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NPA

• No objectives around DVA
• Projects Ndabezetha, Safety Plan, Statistical
  tool consultation?
• SOA Directives not gazetted, nor implementation
  and training reports
• Good deal of international funding for TCCs
  does the budget address womens gender equity
  interests?
• Prioritisation of children over women?
• Sexual offences courts from 67 to 40
  (victim-centred vs system-centred approaches)
• Statistics very contradictory - use of ADR?

16
DSD and DoH

• DSD has no role in SOA
• No legislated obligation to provide shelter and
  other services
• DoH no legislated obligations in terms of the DVA
• DoH no SOA training or implementation reports
  submitted
• Directives late, facilities not designated
• Training inadequate
• GP has trained every year for last 3 years, 10
  day course
• Free State 1 year training 10 days
• Western Cape 1 training, 1 day

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• Civil servants do not have to explain themselves
  and no consequences flow from not doing their
  work. Failures are multiple
• Administrative
• Fiscal
• Legal
• Political
• compliance with the Constitution requires not
  only that laws be enacted to give effect to the
  rights in the Constitution, but also requires
  that those laws be implemented. Failure to
  implement laws that protect constitutional rights
  is a violation of the Constitution.