In support of the South African ‘16 Days of activism for no violence against women and children’ campaign, which started running on 25 November 2011 and ends on 10 December 2011, this CAI paper presents an analysis of the results of a study conducted by the South African Department of Social Development in 2008. The study examined the nature and prevalence of domestic violence in South Africa. It is argued that objectification of women and alcohol use are key contributing factors to the prevalence of domestic violence, and that interventions focussing on these factors will have the largest measurable impact on reducing violence. Some recommendations are made.

Background

In 2008, the Department of Social Development appointed Development Research Africa and the CSIR Defence, Peace, Safety and Security Unit to conduct a study on the nature and prevalence of domestic violence in South Africa. The rationale for conducting the research stemmed from the desire to find solutions to two concerns facing the Department of Social Development. First, as various studies and statistics have shown, domestic violence is both prevalent and extreme in South Africa; and second, the apparent failure of interventions to decrease the prevalence and extremity of domestic violence. This paper is the author’s interpretation and analysis of the data generated.⁽²⁾

Domestic violence in South Africa ⁽³⁾

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, women and children are often in greatest danger in the place where they should be safest: within their families. For many, ‘home’ is where they face a regime of terror and violence at the hands of somebody close to them – somebody they should be able to trust.⁽⁴⁾ Accurate statistics and/or datasets on the prevalence of domestic violence in South Africa are not available as a result of the methodological challenges involved in data gathering among those who still find themselves in dangerous situations. Knowledge about the frequency and extent of domestic violence in South Africa is thus largely based on police statistics, victim surveys and a series of estimates by NGOs working with survivors.

It is estimated that one in every four women is assaulted by an intimate partner every week,⁽⁵⁾ that one adult woman out of every six is assaulted by her partner, and that in at least 46% of these cases, the men involved also abuse the woman’s children. Further, on average, a woman is raped in South Africa every minute, totalling approximately 386,000 women each year.⁽⁶⁾

In a LoveLive study, 39% of young women in South Africa between the ages 12-17 state they have been forced to have sex.⁽⁷⁾ In the same study, 33% said that they were afraid of saying “no” to sex, while 55% agreed with the statement “there are times I do not want to have sex but I do because my boyfriend insists on having sex.”⁽⁸⁾ The study does not record how many of these forced sex experiences were reported to the police.

The available data also indicates that incidents of domestic violence, in which especially women are victims, are increasing. A recent survey conducted in Gauteng found that half the women in Gauteng (51.3%) have experienced abuse/violence, and 75.5% of men admitted to perpetrating abuse/violence against women.⁽⁹⁾ The same study found that one in four women had experienced sexual violence, and 37.4% of men disclosed perpetrating sexual violence.⁽¹⁰⁾

The domination of, and violence directed at women, are arguably a result of the prevalence of patriarchal family relationships in South Africa.⁽¹¹⁾ Patriarchal stereotypes and gender roles often result in the abuse of women being normalised or legitimised within domestic relationships.⁽¹²⁾ This has been rooted in traditions that encourage ideas of men’s rights to ownership of, and entitlement to power over women. Violence against women is used as a way of securing and maintaining the relations of male dominance and female subordination that are central to the patriarchal social order.⁽¹³⁾

This paper argues that domestic violence in South Africa is exacerbated by the objectification of women (a variant of the belief in male ownership of women’s bodies) through the mainstreaming of advertising for pornography and the widespread use/abuse of alcohol and drugs.

Methodology

Although quantitative and qualitative methodologies were used during the research process, this article is based exclusively on the findings generated by the quantitative survey conducted by Development Research Africa. The survey component of the research was designed utilising the definitions of the types of domestic violence in the Domestic Violence Act.

The survey questionnaire was administered to approximately 1000 victims/survivors of domestic violence (a minimum of 150 respondents per province, in six provinces). The six provinces were randomly selected and included the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, Free State, Limpopo and the North West Province.

In order to ensure the safety of respondents, Development Research Africa cooperated with various organisations assisting and working with victims/survivors of domestic violence. These organisations facilitated safe access to victims/survivors of domestic violence who were willing to talk about their experiences, as well as trained counsellors, social workers and psychologists when required.
Key findings ⁽¹⁴⁾

The key findings summarised below establish a clear link between alcohol abuse, objectification of women and domestic violence against women and children.

Survivors’ understanding of domestic violence
The majority (75%) of respondents felt that being a victim/survivor of domestic violence should not be a source of shame. Most (92%) understood that domestic violence is a crime, but these findings are skewed by the fact that in most cases the survivors interviewed had already accessed places of safety. Perhaps a better indicator of the societal understanding of domestic violence and the rights of women (or rather, lack thereof) is the finding that only a few respondents described forced sex within a romantic relationship, or forced sex with someone known to the survivor, as rape.

“When I refused to have sex with him [my partner] he stabbed me.”
“He kicked me in front of my children and forced me to have sex with him.”
“I was beaten in front of his family and my children. When he was finished, he forced me to have sex with him.”

Prevalence of domestic violence according to survivors
When asked how prevalent domestic violence was in their respective communities, 62% of respondents said that is very common or common. More disturbingly, only 24% of respondents did not have friends in abusive relationships at the time of the interviews.

Profile of domestic violence in South Africa
Survivor accounts of their experiences indicate the complexity and magnitude of abuse. Of the respondents surveyed, 76% reported being victims of physical abuse, 90% of emotional abuse, 48% of economic abuse and 28% of sexual abuse. The overlapping categories above suggest that the respondents tended to experience more than one (and often all) type(s) of abuse. Given an assumed reluctance to speak about sexual abuse, the lack of understanding of what constitutes sexual abuse and the descriptions of incidents by respondents during the interview process, one can infer that the extent of sexual abuse is much higher than reported.

Respondents were also asked to describe their worst abusive experience. The majority of incidents cited were examples of physical or sexual abuse. Those who mentioned incidents of emotional/verbal abuse emphasised humiliation and incidents in which their children were involved. Most of the incidents reported seem to have been prompted by a combination of alcohol/drug use, jealousy and perpetrator notions of sexual ownership of female bodies.

“My phone rang when he was there. He would not believe me that it was a friend who called. He threw boiling water in my face.”
“He asked me to follow him to the shebeen. When we arrived there he asked if anyone wanted a woman for sex. When I refused he beat me.”
“He just accused me of sleeping with another man and then he beat me and then he forced me to have sex.”
“He pimps me out. He made me a sex worker. He beats me if I don’t bring home enough money.”
“He came to my office. He walked in and locked the door behind him. He started punching me and accusing me of having an affair.”
“I was cleaning the house when he said I must go to the bedroom for sex. I asked him to wait. He threw boiling cooking oil at me.”
“When I refused to have sex with him he stabbed me.”

Examples of physical abuse include accounts of being choked, strangled, suffocated, beaten – with bare fists, rods, bricks, guns, furniture, rocks – spat at, bitten, kicked, defecated or urinated on, burnt, locked up and starved, tied up, stabbed and prevented from getting medical attention.

“Afterwards, I had to pick my teeth up from the floor.”
“He choked me. Then he poured paraffin over me and threatened to burn me alive. He forced me to eat dog food while he watched.”
“He would bang my head against the floor, kick me, slap me and choke me.”
“He beat me and tried to strangle me. I was gasping for breath. I thought I was going to die.”
“He kicked me when I was pregnant. Then I lost my baby.”
“I was frying fish on Good Friday. He came in and choked me. Then he threw me on the bed and stabbed me with a fork.”

The typical victim/survivor of domestic violence in South Africa is abused every day and remains in the abusive relationship for several years. Approximately 77% remained in abusive relationships for more than a year, 23% for two to five years, 14% for five to ten years, and 12% for more than ten years.

The research echoes findings of previous studies and found that 83% of the abusive incidents take place at the home of the victim/survivor (63% in the house and 19% in the yard/garden). The next most likely place for abuse to occur is at the homes of friends or family, or at work.

In approximately half of the abusive incidents, perpetrators used a weapon. Of these, 10% were guns, and 51% were knifes. Other often used weapons included canes, boiling water, pangas and axes.
“Yesterday he held a panga. He told me he would not hesitate to kill me.”
“When I was pregnant he would threaten me with a knife.”
“The worst day was when the used a blade to cut me, he used a hammer to hit my knees, and then he threw me and the children out in the night.”
“The worst day was when he used an axe. I was hit in the head. I had to go to hospital.”
“The worst day was when he stabbed me in my neck and locked me up. I almost bled to death.”
“He hit me with the barrel of his firearm. When I ran away he fired a shot at me, but fortunately he missed me.”
“He poured petrol over me and burnt me.”
“He threw boiling water in my face. I was in hospital for three weeks.”

Violence and abusive behaviour is often directed at the children of the survivor/victim as a means to exert control over her. Abusers sometimes harmed children in an effort to terrorise their mothers. Experiences reported by respondents included incidents of children being raped in front of their mothers.

“He beat me using stones, while his friends raped my 6-year old.”
“He came home drunk and told me to go and wake up my baby. He beat us.”
“He came home drunk and then started beating me and the children.”
“The worst was the night he started abusing me and my children, and then he grabbed the panga and almost killed me.”
“The worst was when he said that he would kill my children. Then he pointed a gun at us.”

Generally, the abuse is witnessed by others, and in almost half the reported cases, other persons were present while the abusive incidents were taking place. The majority of the witnesses to domestic violence were in the position to assist the victims (i.e. were adults), but did not do so. More specifically, the witnesses of the abuse were children (38%), adult family members (28%), adult friends (19%), work colleagues (2%), neighbours (2%) and adult strangers (10%). Only 17% of respondents said that their abuse has not been witnessed by other persons.

“The worst incident for me was when he beat me in front of his friends. He kicked me, pulled by my hair, used bricks to beat me, strangled me and then shoved me out to lie in the rain.”
“He hit me in front of his friends and their partners, calling me names and saying that I am never satisfied with one man. He just kept hitting me.”
“The worst for me was at my friend’s party. He dragged me out of the party and started to hit and kick me until I started bleeding from my vagina.”
“The worst is when he fights with me in front of other people and tears my clothes off.”
“The worst is when he beats me in front of his friends.”
“He came home drunk and started biting me in front of his mother and the children.”
The worst was when he threatened to kill me with a spade in front of my children and my neighbours. He was very drunk. I felt hopeless and helpless.”
“We were arguing and then he took my two children hostage. He threatened to kill me. He pulled the trigger. The bullet hit me in the left thigh.”

The above also raises concerns about the impact of domestic abuse on the children who are witnessing these events on a regular basis. It was found, for example, that 88% of the victims/survivors of domestic violence interviewed had children living with them.

“He strangled me and forced me to say I am having an affair, in front of the children. I felt so humiliated because I wet myself.”

Further, in approximately 14% of the cases the respondent was abused by more than one person at a time. In 72% of these cases, the other abuser was a friend or family member of the primary abuser. In 64% of these cases, the primary abuser orchestrated the additional abuse.

Profile of the victims and survivors of domestic violence
The overwhelming majority of adult victims are women (other categories of adults include the elderly and a small proportion of men). The victims and survivors are not more likely to belong to any particular racial, cultural or language groups. Nevertheless, the majority of the respondents were economically vulnerable (unemployed and without income). Slightly less than half of the respondents were actually economically dependent on the perpetrators – 44% said that they were financially dependent on the perpetrator, while 41% said that they were dependent on the perpetrator for accommodation.

In the vast majority of cases the victims/survivors were either married (53%) or had intimate relationships with (22%) the perpetrator/abuser. A further 21% of perpetrators were family members of the victims/survivors.

Consequences of domestic violence for the victims and survivors
The average respondent participating in the research has required medical attention at least twice as a result of physical violence. Further, 35% reported that they had permanent injuries as a result of physical abuse. Approximately 10% (and one can assume that this matter is under-reported) said that they had contracted HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases, and a further 12% reported a negative impact on their reproductive health – infertility, unwanted pregnancies, abortions, miscarriages – as a result of physical and sexual violence.

The respondents participating in this research were severely traumatised (even though the majority of these women had already received some assistance/counselling). Some of the commonly reported symptoms of trauma included eating disorders, sleeping disorders, chronic headaches (or other aches and pains), overwhelming feelings of anger, severe anxiety and fear, and depression.

Profile of the perpetrators of domestic violence
The majority of perpetrators were male (84%) and were living with the victims at the time of the abuse (67%). There is an important association between the propensity to domestic violence and drug and alcohol use – 76% of perpetrators regularly “use” alcohol and other drugs, while approximately half were considered to have serious substance abuse problems. The research revealed that perpetrators tend to also behave violently towards other people. In 30% of the reported cases, victims were aware of someone else who had been abused by the perpetrators in the same way, which suggests that they are repeat offenders.

Perpetrators who have access to pornography, are likely to use it, or to pay for sex. The majority of perpetrators (84%) regularly use offensive and abusive language. Perpetrators also tend to be very jealous and controlling (71%). Perpetrators tend to have patriarchal and sexist attitudes and to dehumanise and objectify women. They are also unlikely to show remorse for their actions.

Key identified causes/triggers for domestic violence

The following causes/triggers for domestic violence are presented in order of frequency. Triggers are defined as events that precede violent incidents and differ from underlying causes (i.e. underlying long-term contributing factors such as abuse in childhood, sexist attitudes in society).

Alcohol and drug use
Victims and perpetrators reported that abuse was most likely to take place when perpetrators were using alcohol or drugs. Further, the majority of respondents said that they fear the abusers most when the abusers use alcohol. Victims were also afraid at, or after, “social events” where perpetrators would use drugs or alcohol, and then tended to become controlling and jealous.

Analysis of the “worst case scenarios” also indicated that the perpetrators were more likely to be violent when they had access to money (e.g. “month end”) or when the victim had access to money (e.g. “when he wants to take my money”). This money would be used by perpetrators to purchase alcohol, drugs or sex – activities that are mostly followed by violence or other forms of abuse.

The author of this paper calculated (based on the interviews conducted) that drugs/alcohol use was a trigger for domestic violence in at least 64% of the worst incidences reported, and in at least 73% of overall incidences reported. When asked whether the abuser tended to use alcohol, or to be drunk before or during incidents of abuse, approximately 73% said yes. A further 30% said that they knew that the perpetrator was using drugs at the time of the worst incident (drug-use is likely to be under-reported).

Other, more recent, research supports the arguments above. The Gender Links study on gender-based violence in Gauteng province, cited earlier, found that men's alcohol consumption was closely associated with perpetration of all forms of violence, including rape. It also found that 4.2% of women had been raped while drunk or drugged and that 14.2% of men surveyed had forced a woman to have sex when she was too drunk or drugged to refuse.⁽¹⁵⁾

Objectification and control
Accounts of the worst incidences of domestic violence experienced by respondents indicated that most incidents were preceded by the perpetrators 1) either assuming infidelity on the part of the victim/survivor, or expressing extreme jealousy, 2) perpetrators expressing frustration at their inability to control the movement or behaviour of their victims, 3) when victims decline or refuse to have sex with the perpetrators. Perpetrators appear to operate from the assumption that they ‘own’ women and accordingly treat women like objects. Perpetrators assume that women do not have a right to decline sex (i.e. do not have control over their own bodies). Such attitudes and behaviours are exacerbated when alcohol and drugs are involved.

Financial stress
Financial stress, unemployment and poverty were contributing factors to domestic violence in 21% of the incidences reported.

The way forward

South Africa’s commitment to eradicating domestic violence has been illustrated by the introduction of legislation such as the Domestic Violence Act (DVA) which aims to provide speedy, effective and accessible legal relief to a very wide range of complainants.(16) This commitment and its legislative framework, even if implemented effectively, however, is not sufficient to reduce the prevalence of violence and other abuse, because it does not address key issues such as the objectification of women and prevalent drug and alcohol use.

Objectification of the female is so prevalent in South African society that the victims/survivors of violence interviewed in the research had internalised the dehumanising consequences of objectification to the extent that they did not even recognise when they were raped. They had been conditioned – through experienced and witnessed abuse, and a society that continues to use the female form as a source of entertainment, a means to selling products, and an item for sale in itself - to give ownership of their lives and bodies over to male partners/friends and family members.

What is required is the promulgation of further appropriate legislation and interventions based on a complex and factual understanding of the prevalence and nature of the phenomenon, as well as the widespread attitudes and beliefs that arguably facilitate violent behaviour towards women.

Recommendations:
Addressing alcohol abuse and the effect thereof on families: The biggest causal factor relating to violent incidents identified in the survey research was alcohol and drug use. Resources and interventions aimed at treating the disease of alcoholism and the effect it has on families will have the biggest measurable effect on reducing violence and abusive behaviour. The many non-governmental organisations and civil society recovery groups working in these areas could be included in state-driven initiatives without incurring significant costs.

Introducing initiatives and legislation to reduce the objectification of women: Current mainstreaming of ideas and activities that portray and use women as sexual objects need to be addressed and at the very least, the advertising regulated. Current social and cultural condoning of objectification will only contribute to increased violence against women. The current prevalence of these sexist attitudes feed into ideas of sexual ownership and the general oppression of women. It is expressed in the high levels of domestic violence, the extremely high number of rapes, and the prevalence of HIV and AIDS amongst young married women.

Education and information dissemination: Widespread, multi-level and multi-stakeholder education and information dissemination activities are necessary. The content of such initiatives should focus on; what constitutes domestic violence, which behaviours are illegal, what help and resources are available, developing respect for women among perpetrators and victims, and developing self-esteem among women. Strategies and initiatives embarked upon will differ depending on the target audience. These include:

* Workshops and training sessions hosted by the Department of Social Development for subject experts and domestic violence practitioners.

The research showed that both the victims and perpetrators of domestic violence watch television, but are much less likely to listen to the radio or read newspapers. Television is an expensive but very wide reaching medium. Innovative thinking could reduce the cost of utilising this medium. Possibilities include utilising SABC education, or approaching writers and producers of popular South African television dramas and soap operas to write domestic violence interpretations into performed scripts.

* Part of the information and education targeted at the broader society level should focus on what the many witnesses to domestic violence can do to assist the victims, as well as, promote a culture of responsibility and willingness to assist. In some societies, families have relied upon community-based support mechanisms to resolve issues of conflict. The local community therefore needs to be mobilised to oppose domestic violence in its midst. Actions taken by local people may include greater surveillance of domestic violence situations, offering support for victims-survivors and challenging men to stop the violence.
* Community information and education programmes regarding the nature and unacceptability of domestic violence should be developed. Such programmes should address cultural forms of behaviour that uphold male aggression, beating, punishment and abuse of women as acceptable. Developing integrated responses to domestic violence through involvement of local community groups, community health workers and women serves to create sustainability and accountability.
* Tolerance and gender-awareness education must be included in school and tertiary institutions’ curricula. Further, the business and public sectors should be encouraged to provide similar education to their employees. One focus area of such training should be on the right and autonomy women should have over their own bodies. Sexism and objectification have been internalised by many women to the extent that it did not occur to them that being forced to have sex was rape.
* Most of the victims of domestic violence interviewed for this survey are economically vulnerable. Reducing economic vulnerability will increase the ability of women to leave abusive relationships, as well as to reduce their direct involvement in the mainstreaming of sexual exploitation and objectification of women as ‘entertainment.’ It is necessary to ensure (through policy and programmes) that women have the opportunities to economically empower themselves.
* Direct interventions and services provided to victims of domestic violence should as a core component include treatment for depression and anxiety, as well as focus on the development of self-worth and self-esteem.

NOTES:

(1) Contact Marinda Weideman through Consultancy Intelligence Africa’s Gender Issues Unit (gender.issues@consultancy.africa.com).
(2) Author was also the project manager of the above-mentioned study.
(3) This information is derived in part from the literature review prepared by the CSIR as a part of the overall project.
(4) ‘Domestic violence against women and girls’, UNICEF, June 2000, http://www.unicef-irc.org.
(5) Blaser, A., 1999. Quoted In: J. Van Sitter, 2002. Hegemonic masculinity and intimate partner abuse: A qualitative study. University of the Western Cape, South Africa.
(6) Russell, D., 1991. Rape and child sexual abuse in Soweto: An interview with community leader Mary (Masechaba) Mabaso. South African Sociological Review, 3(2).
(7) ‘Teenage pregnancy in South Africa: With a specific focus on school-going learners’, Love Life, 2000, http://www.lovelife.org.za.
(8) Ibid.
(9) Mercelene Machisa, Rachel Jewkes, Colleen Lowe Morna and Kubi Rama, ‘The war at home – GBV indicators project’, Gender Links, 16 August 2011, http://www.genderlinks.org.za.
(10) Ibid.
(11) Emmett, T. and Butchart, A., 2000. Crime, violence and public health. Behind the mask: Getting to grips with crime and violence in South Africa. Pretoria: HSRC.
(12) Kotze, S., 1995. South Africa takes action against domestic violence and women abuse. Journal of Social Work Practice, 3.
(13) Hester, M., Kelly, L. and Radford, J., 1996. Women, violence and male power. Buckingham: Open University Press.
(14) The study was much broader than this article reflects and additional information is available from the research organisations involved.
(15) Tafadzwa Sekeso, ‘South Africa: Sex, drugs and women’s rights’, 17 August 2011, Gender Links, http://www.genderlinks.org.za.
(16) Curran, E. and Bonthuys, E., 2004. Customary law and domestic violence in rural South African communities. Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation: Johannesburg.

Written by Dr. M. Weideman ⁽¹⁾