As the country commemorates 16 Days of Activism, the alarming increase in assault and grievous bodily harm (GBH) cases against women and children remains of great concern to the provincial government.
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According to the latest quarterly crime statistics, GBH cases against women increased by 23.1% when compared to the same period in the previous year.
In addition to this, five more women, or 4.4%, were murdered.
For children, during the same comparative period, GBH increased by 31 cases, or 9.6%. Murder and attempted murder for children decreased by 5.2% and 28.9%, respectively, while attempted murder for women decreased by 21.1%.
“It is an absolute disgrace that our women and children are being harmed in this manner and that the numbers continue to increase,” said Western Cape Minister of Police Oversight and Community Safety, Reagen Allen. “The 16 days of activism provides an important opportunity to raise much more awareness and action against the abuse of women and children.”
“As a society, we should be ashamed that we are allowing it to continue. Most of these crimes occur within the premises of the victim or the perpetrator, and in most cases, the offender and victim are known to each other. The onus is on us to immediately reverse this traumatic reality.”
Allen added that the government would continue using the Court Watching Briefs programme to ensure that GBH cases against women and children that might have been struck off the role due to police inefficiencies are placed back in court so that perpetrators can be held accountable and ultimately go to jail.
Meanwhile, Western Cape Minister of Social Development, Sharna Fernandez, said that the Western Cape Government believes in a 365-day campaign against sexual and gender-based violence.
“The increase in assault cases is indicative of a national government failing in its duties to protecting its most vulnerable citizens,” she said. “During the Western Cape’s first Provincial Summit on GBV in October, we heard the plight of victims who shared their frustrations with the justice and police systems. We heard about victims waiting in long queues at police stations before receiving assistance.”
“We also heard of how victims who report cases to the police are often dismissed when they smell of alcohol.”
“We are deeply concerned that domestic violence is not being taken as a serious offense, and most importantly, detectives are overloaded with cases. There were also testimonies of courts not being client friendly. Victims need time to be prepared for the court process but say sometimes the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) only engages the client on the morning of the case. The low conviction rate is also a major challenge, and sentencing does not deter abusers from committing these types of crimes again. The time it takes to conclude court cases is more often than not too long.”
“This leads to a distrust by victims in our policing and justice systems. That is why the Western Cape Department of Social Development has stepped in and is helping and supporting victims of abuse and violence in whatever manner it can, through its Victim Empowerment Programme.”
In the 2021/22 financial year, more than 21,000 GBV victims accessed psychosocial support through this programme, much more than we’d originally targeted – this is indicative of the significant need.
“The programme currently funds 26 shelters in the Western Cape. The funding model for the shelters has improved significantly over the past 5 years, as the unit cost (cost per bed per month) has increased by 42%,” added Minister Fernandez.
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