- The South African government is working on a new online portal where victims of gender-based violence (GBV) can seek protection.
- Still in its pilot phase, the new portal could provide a more discrete method to report GBV cases.
- South Africa has also expanded the amount of victim-friendly rooms at police stations across the country.
Gender-based violence (GBV) in South Africa continues to be at the forefront of the public’s mind when it comes to societal ills. In 2009, more than one in two women murdered in the country were killed by an intimate male partner, like a husband or boyfriend.
Organisations around the country have been taking steps to begin reducing the society-wide problem, and now the government has revealed that it is piloting a new portal where victims of GBV by way of domestic violence can apply for protection online.
“The violence perpetrated by men against women and girls is an assault on our common humanity. Women do not feel safe in their homes, on the street, in places of work and study and worship,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Wednesday during a Women’s Day commemorative address at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
The new system is being tested in a number of provinces and is part of the National Strategic Action Plan to Combat Gender-Based Violence, launched in 2020. Although it seems it is still early in development as not much else was revealed in terms of information on the portal itself.
But the implementation of an online service could provide a more discrete method to report GBV and seek protection for victims. Especially as most cases of such violence remain unreported.
Ramaphosa also revealed a series of changes government has rolled out in the last three years after an “extensive consultation process.” This includes the training of 12 000 police members to respond specifically to GBV-related cases.
Additionally, there are now over 1 000 victim-friendly rooms at police stations countrywide, compared to the 1 116 police stations disbursed across South Africa.
There are also harsher penalties for perpetrators of GBV, as President Ramaphosa says, “Effective from earlier this month, no police bail may be granted to persons charged with rape or if the victim was in a domestic relationship with the perpetrator. Such bail applications must be formally applied for in court. If the accused was in a domestic relationship with the alleged victim, the court has to issue a protection order against them before releasing them on bail.”
The new online portal will join several ways to report GBV. Most of the existing methods are telephonic but none are guaranteed to offer protection. This includes the domestic violence helpline (0800 150 150), the South African Police Service (10 111), Childline South Africa (0800 055 555) and the GBV Command Centre (0800 428 428), among others.
[Source – SA News]
[Image – CC 0 Mart Productions on Unsplash]
