As Women's Month comes to a close, the conversation around women's emancipation and gender-based violence in South Africa appears to quieten. Despite the attention drawn to the issue through marches, speeches, and hashtags, the reality is that women's personal safety habits are not adequate to fully protect themselves. The country's status as one of the most dangerous places for women remains a pressing concern.
The issue of women's safety is often dictated by a cyclical calendar of campaigns, with focus peaking during specific periods such as the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children. However, this attention is often fleeting, and the real work begins when the microphones are silenced and hashtags fade. For countless women in South Africa, daily routine unfolds in a familiar, unsettling manner, with each step accompanied by a rehearsed mental map of the journey home.
The issue of women's safety is not a new phenomenon, with Black women having confronted a state-determined to control their mobility through apartheid pass laws 70 years ago. Although the passbook is gone, the question of whether a woman can move through society freely and safely remains relevant. The point is not equivalence between apartheid's pass laws and contemporary gender-based violence but rather the issue of power and who gets to determine where a woman can go.
Effective investigations, competent prosecution, and appropriate consequences for perpetrators are crucial in deterring gender-based violence. A hashtag cannot deter a man who calculates that he is unlikely to be caught, charged, or convicted, but a functioning justice system can. Referral is not the same as justice, and successful prosecution makes accountability real.
Behind the figures of violence are women and girls whose lives have been disrupted by violence, intimidation, fear, and death. Violence is frequently underreported, with some women never reaching a police station or making a report. In an intimate relationship, control takes many forms before physical violence becomes visible, including isolation, restrictions on work, and financial dependence.
Treating women's safety as primarily a woman's responsibility is a matter of grave concern. Instead of teaching women how to anticipate violence, society should focus on preventing violence. The responsibility for women's safety cannot rest with individual women alone; families, communities, schools, institutions, the state, and men must acknowledge their share of responsibility.
The test of freedom is not simply whether the law permits a woman to go somewhere but whether she can go there without fear. As the country prepares for the 16 Days of Activism period, the conversation around women's safety must continue beyond public awareness campaigns. The real work begins in the ordinary days between campaigns, when women still have to live with the fear of violence.
Key points
- Women's safety is not just a woman's responsibility but requires a collective effort from families, communities, schools, institutions, the state, and men.
- Effective investigations, competent prosecution, and consequences for perpetrators are crucial in deterring gender-based violence.
- The conversation around women's safety must continue beyond public awareness campaigns to bring about transformation.
