IN CONVERSATION WITH Fatima Seedat ( SADAG’s Developmental Manager)
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The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) has also, on the 18th of November, released the First South African National Gender-Based Violence Study, which finds that 33.1% of all women in South Africa aged 18 years and older have experienced physical violence in their lifetime. The study suggests that childhood physical [30.4%], sexual [56.2%] and/or emotional abuse [40.1%] before age 15, are factors associated with lifetime physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence victimisation among women.
The reality is that a number of parents are fearful of their children going to school, playing outside, visiting a local shop, going to the post office, or attending a sleepover, because of fear of what might happen at the hands of men.
This is a global anxiety, which is not new; it is ingrained in societal structures. However, one must consider: if faced with sexual violence and exposure to danger at the same rate experienced by women and children, would the world respond with the same indifference? The lack of systemic urgency in addressing and calling out gender-based violence and violence directed at children exposes a harsh reality: South Africa, like much of the world, continues to fail its most vulnerable populations. The ‘monsters’ have names and are not lurking in the shadows; they are among us, shielded by a culture of silence and impunity. Men must introspect and rise to the challenge of changing the status quo by stopping to view and treat women, girls, and boys as objects, but as human beings deserving of dignity and safety. Until we dismantle the systems that protect perpetrators, justice will remain an illusion for too many.
The reality is that a number of parents are fearful of their children going to school, playing outside, visiting a local shop, going to the post office, or attending a sleepover, because of fear of what might happen at the hands of men.
This is a global anxiety, which is not new; it is ingrained in societal structures. However, one must consider: if faced with sexual violence and exposure to danger at the same rate experienced by women and children, would the world respond with the same indifference? The lack of systemic urgency in addressing and calling out gender-based violence and violence directed at children exposes a harsh reality: South Africa, like much of the world, continues to fail its most vulnerable populations. The ‘monsters’ have names and are not lurking in the shadows; they are among us, shielded by a culture of silence and impunity. Men must introspect and rise to the challenge of changing the status quo by stopping to view and treat women, girls, and boys as objects, but as human beings deserving of dignity and safety. Until we dismantle the systems that protect perpetrators, justice will remain an illusion for too many.
