Gender based violence in South Africa

– The GBV Indicators Research conducted in South Africa (four provinces, Mauritius and Botswana has established that at least one in four women (Mauritius) and up to two in three women (Botswana) have experienced GBV at some time in their life. Men corroborate these findings, sometimes even more strongly than what women report experiencing.

–  Despite GBV being the most flagrant violation of human rights in the region, political leaders int he three countries refer to GBV sporadically in their speeches(6% to 15% of the time).

–  Only three SADC member states have Domestic Violence legislation.

–  Seven countries do not have sexual offences or anti human trafficking laws. Only South Africa has a specific Law on sexual harassment

–  South Africa is still the only country that included the provision of post exposure prophylaxis (PEP) in its Sexual Offences Act.

–  NGOs provide most of the shelters for survivors of GBV.

–  A high proportion of women and men in the three countries covered by the GBV Indicatorsrsearch do not know anything about GBV campaigns.

–  Eleven countries in the region have integrated National Action Plans to address GBV. In the other four countries these are in draft form.

–  NAPS need to be strengthened through baseline data, targeted actions and costing. So far only limited budget allocations have been made to addressing GBV.