16 Days of Activism: Calls grow for a targeted approach to addressing GBV

JOHANNESBURG - As Monday marks the start of 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children, there are growing calls for a targeted approach to addressing gender-based violence (GBV).  

A gender specialist tackling (gender-based violence) GBV said the government must focus more on areas that are hotspots for violence against women and children.

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According to police, Delft township in Western Cape with Dobsonville and Mamelodi in Gauteng, are the country's biggest GBV hotspots.  

According to the police’s crime statistics, the majority of hotspots for GBV are in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape.  

Gender specialist Lisa Vetten said government and law enforcement authorities should use these statistics to strategize on how to strengthen the fight against GBV.  

“I think we have to take a much more sophisticated and nuanced approach. If you look at figures from the police crime statistics, they are showing us that levels of violence in some areas are higher than in others. That tells us that attitudes are not enough to explain the problem. We have to look at the kinds of context that encourage men to hold that attitude.”  

A recent study by the Human Sciences Research Council has revealed that over 7 million women in South Africa have experienced physical violence perpetrated by men in their lifetime.