The Equality Courts as a Tool for Gender Transformation (original) (raw)
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In the last decade South Africa has undergone an extensive process of sexual offence law reform. This process has attempted, amongst other things, to address deficiencies in the criminal justice response to rape and has also recognised some of the limits to the impact of legal reform. These limits are partly defined by rape supportive attitudes and myths that appear to influence decision-making at all points in the criminal justice process. In South Africa, and many other jurisdictions, evidence suggests that police, prosecutorial and judicial decision-making is influenced, in part, by a range of social attitudes that misconstrue sexual violence, as well as serve to undermine the credibility of complainants. This article examines the impact of myths, social definitions of rape on rape law reform in South Africa and the points at which these reforms are likely to be undermined by social attitudes and what potentially might be done to address this problem.
HIV/AIDS and the role of gender inequality and violence in South African Law
2009
This study may not have been completed without the generous support of many people. While it is not possible to render a full account of the debt owed to so many people, it would be quite wrong not to acknowledge the particular contribution of a few. I am deeply indebted to my supervisor Prof Melodie Slabbert from the department of Jurisprudence at the University of South Africa, for her tireless guidance, generous support, inspiring suggestions, her encouragement and her unending patience in the writing phase of this dissertation. I indeed share the delight of this accomplishment with you. Library resources are important to a study of this kind. I must acknowledge in a special way the services I have received from the law library at the University of South Africa. Special thanks especially to the law librarian, Miss L Brown, at this library who assisted me to find legislation and articles relevant to my topic. She literally walked the extra mile by sending me material relevant to my study electronically. I would be remiss if I fail to recognise the generous and yet valuable support and encouragement from all my colleagues in the Department of Jurisprudence. Throughout my period of research in this department my colleagues have motivated and inspired me. I would in particular like to thank my dear friend and colleague, Magdaleen Swanepoel, who has been with me every step of this journey. Many thanks for your ongoing love, inspiration and encouragement. To Mama Patricia and Gloria Da Costa, thank you all for your prayers for guidance. Prayer has truly made a difference. I owe so much to Marie Henning for her expertise and assistance regarding the formatting of this dissertation To my family friends, Asha, Lorna, Cassandra, Rena and Gerry, Vena, Kees, Gift and Mandy and Lovingson: thanks for the encouragement and all the shoring up in all respects. By custom, thanks to one's family members are always reserved for last. Many thanks to my mother, Cathrine S Mswela, my father, Silindani P Mswela and my two sisters, Sipho and Zodwa, for your laughter and invariable uplifting in so many ways. I will always love you.
"Come rape us!" The everyday trauma of sexual violence in South Africa
Women, Trauma & Empowerment in Post-Authoritarian Societies, 2008
South Africa's democratic transition marked the end of generations of brutal colonial and apartheid rule and the beginning of a war of sexual violation against the country's women and children. One year after the historic1994 elections, Human Rights Watch declared South Africa to be the 'rape capital of the world'. The declaration served to highlight the huge problem of sexual violence in the country and sparked off heated debate and denialism at the highest levels of government, much of which remains today. The recent rape trial of Deputy President Jacob Zuma, where women supporters shouted "come rape us" to the accused, revealed the extent to which notions of male sexual entitlement and female sexual servility are deeply embedded in the psychology and social fabric of South African society. This chapter examines the centrality of a dominant patriarchal continuity that continues to define women's subjectivity and shape their experiences in the post-apartheid era. It is posited that in the second decade of democracy, issues of gender inequities and gender-based violence should emerge more clearly as the politics of alliance, so essential to first-phase nation projects, makes way for a politic of autonomy where women's issues are perceived as distinct from wider nationalism.
2003
I INTRODUCTION Nine years into South Africa's democratic dispensation, the levels of violence against women, particularly sexual violence, 2 remain alarmingly high. The frequency, extent and nature of sexual violence in South Africa have gained international attention over the past years. 3 Although it is a crime that affects all South Africans, women are far more likely to be the victims, and evidence suggests that the already unacceptably high rate of sexual assault continues to increase. 4 Increasingly, too, the link is being drawn between women's sexual victimisation and their extreme vulnerability to sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS. 5 Against this background, the recent publication of the South African Law Commission's 6 Report on Sexual Offences is significant. 7 This report, which includes a draft Sexual Offences Bill, represents the conclusion of the commission's comprehensive investigation into sexual *BA Hons (Crim) MA; Chief Researcher, Institute of Criminology, Faculty of Law, University of Cape Town. **B Iur LLB Hons BA (PU for CHE) LLM (UCT); Senior Researcher, Community Law Centre, University of the Western Cape. 1 Samuel Butler Notebooks (1912) Chapter 14 as cited in Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (1992) 167. 2 The term 'sexual violence' is used here as a collective term for the criminal offences recognised as 'rape', 'indecent assault' and 'crimen iniuria' respectively.
‘He Said I Needed to Stop Being a Lesbian’: The Unpunished Crime of Corrective Rape in South Africa
Coined in South Africa, “‘corrective rape’ is the term used to describe the practice of raping African women and girls thought to be lesbians with the claimed purpose of turning them into ‘real African women’— the underlying belief being that homosexuality is a ‘disease’ imported by the white colonial empire.”365 With such a mindset, perpetrators of this kind of violence aim to justify the rape of those women who appear not to adhere to conventional gender roles and behavior.366 Corrective rape is also known as ‘curative rape’ or ‘punitive rape’ carried out by a man or a gang of men. In South Africa, the slang for gang-rape is ‘jackrolling’. In a society that is deeply patriarchal and homophobic, masculine-looking women or butch lesbians challenge and threaten male superiority and hence, they must be punished or ‘cured’ for their transgressions. Not to forget that many believe the ultimate test of proving one’s manhood is a demonstrated show of aggression.
South Africa's gender-based violence: an exploration of a single sided account
EUREKA: Social and Humanities
Gender-based violence (GBV) is a global social problem that has received considerable attention from policymakers and researchers. However, when speaking of GVB, significant attention is paid to women who are seen as being at the receiving end of violence. Although statistics do support the notion that women are mostly exposed to GBV, little attention has been paid to GBV against men as often not, it is the man who is seen as the aggressor and the woman painted as the victim. This article investigates reasons Gender-Based Violence (GBV) against men is not being addressed in South Africa. Males are also victims of GBV in South Africa, although the government, media, and police pay little attention to GBV against males. It is critical to remember, that men, regardless of their muscularity, can be mistreated by men or women. Males may be raped, killed, or attacked, and they also deserve government care and protection. In South Africa, the government is especially concerned about The GB...
Abstract Objective: To describe the prevalence and patterns of rape perpetration in a randomly selected sample of men from the general adult population, to explore factors associated with rape and to describe how men explained their acts of rape. Design: Cross-sectional household study with a two- stage randomly selected sample of men. Methods: 1737 South African men aged 18–49 completed a questionnaire administered using an Audio-enhanced Personal Digital Assistant. Multivariable logistic regression models were built to identify factors associated with rape perpetration. Results: In all 27.6% (466/1686) of men had raped a woman, whether an intimate partner, stranger or acquaintance, and whether perpetrated alone or with accomplices, and 4.7% had raped in the last 12 months. First rapes for 75% were perpetrated before age 20, and 53.9% (251) of those raping, did so on multiple occasions. The logistic regression model showed that having raped was associated with greater adversity in childhood, having been raped by a man and higher maternal education. It was associated with less equitable views on gender relations, having had more partners, and many more gender inequitable practices including transactional sex and physical partner violence. Also drug use, gang membership and a higher score on the dimensions of psychopathic personality, namely blame externalisation and Machiavellian egocentricity. Asked about why they did it, the most common motivations stemmed from ideas of sexual entitlement. Conclusions: Perpetration of rape is so prevalent that population-based measures of prevention are essential to complement criminal justice system responses. Our findings show the importance of measures to build gender equity and change dominant ideas of masculinity and gender relations as part of rape prevention. Reducing men’s exposure to trauma in childhood is also critically important.
Sexual Violence and the Limits of Laws’ Powers to Alter Behaviour: The Case of South Africa
Journal of international women's studies, 2018
Despite having one of the most inclusive and progressive constitutions in the world, South Africa (SA) has one of the highest rates of sexual offences globally. This article measures the extent of sexual violence, causes, developments and challenges in research, policy and practice in relation to sexual violence against women. It analyses the causes and responses to sexual violence in a largely South African context. Through different reports and literature reviews this paper will analyze the role that social traditions and norms play in the commission of sexual violence. By analyzing a prominent rape case, the author will deliberate on why law reform alone can be limiting in comprehensively dealing with sexual offences. It will also discuss how weaknesses in the governments’ responses to sexual violence have led to it being perpetrated with relative impunity. This paper will further emphasize the need for an integrated response to eradicating sexual violence. In addition to present...