• Policy and Legislative Frameworks: Discussions focused on the existing legal frameworks and policies addressing GBV in South Africa, Botswana, and Lesotho, the countries with the world's highest rape rates, as revealed in the afore mentioned 2023 study of the World Population Review.2 The symposium identified gaps and explored strategies to effectively enhance and enforce the frameworks.
• Community Engagement and Empowerment: Participants highlighted successful community-based initiatives and grassroots programmes that have effectively prevented and responded to GBV and explored ways to empower communities and individuals to take an active role in combating GBV.
• Intersectionality and Vulnerable Groups: The meeting addressed how GBV intersects with other forms of discrimination, focusing on marginalised groups, including LGBTQI+ individuals, persons with disabilities, refugees, and other vulnerable populations, and discussed tailored approaches to support them. The narrative report for 2023 can be found here.

The panels and discussions from the 2^nd Southern Africa Symposium on Preventing Gender-based Violence (GBV) in Southern Africa covered country-specific situations highlighting the need for a multi-sectoral approach to GBV for specific panels and contributions see pictorial here. Some of the best practices included one-stop centres that respond to GBV victims and survivors and the 100 days challenge. This panel also discussed the intersection of climate change, conflict and gender inequality related to GBV.  The second panel discussed the United Nations Collective Response to GBV with preventative strategies, particularly in schools and workplaces. Building on conversations around the inclusion of men in preventing GBV, this panel explored the crucial role men must play in breaking the cycle of violence, using examples from community-based organisations and Sonke Gender Justice.  Day 2, discussions on  Emerging and Innovative Approaches to GBV prevention included an emphasis on the need for evidence-based research and civil litigation for GBV survivors. Another panel presented on-the-ground successes with participants who were in the first symposium; they highlighted multi-stakeholder approaches to GBV and economic empowerment as a means of helping women escape cycles of violence.

Ending gender-based violence in Southern Africa requires more than reactive measures—it requires sustained, proactive strategies grounded in evidence and driven by collaboration. The symposium serves as a platform that calls on researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to work collectively in developing innovative solutions that address the root causes of violence, prioritize survivor safety and empowerment, and foster a region free of gender-based violence. The symposium's call to action by 2024 participants urges stakeholders to move beyond discourse and invest in sustainable and collaborative research, interventions and policies that promote gender equality and is centred on a human rights approach.

Themed "Reason for Hope," the symposium will be a hybrid event, held at the Dutch Ambassador's Residence in Pretoria from 22-23 August 2024, bringing together diverse stakeholders to address and strategize on combating the GBV scourge in the Southern African region.

Despite being one of the more peaceful regions in Africa, Southern Africa faces a hidden crisis of GBV and femicide. Recent statistics from the World Population Review highlight that Botswana, Lesotho, and South Africa rank the highest globally on incidences of rape.  This alarming trend underscores the need for an urgent, comprehensive and regionally coordinated response. As such, the critical need for a concerted effort to end GBV, support survivors, and educate communities.

The 2024 symposium will build on the progress of the inaugural 2023 forum, which gathered gender experts, human rights defenders, policymakers, and community leaders to discuss effective measures in scaling up GBV response strategies. The 2024 edition, will expand its focus to include Mozambique, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, addressing regional challenges and sharing innovative solutions.

In addition to addressing regional challenges and sharing innovative solutions there will be a strong focus on the importance of streamlining and strengthen regional and sub-regional networks and partnerships to accelerate GBV response strategies.

Expected Outcomes:

• Enhanced understanding of GBV issues and effective prevention strategies in the region.
• Comprehensive and regionally coordinated responses to GBV
• Greater involvement of women, victims, and community leaders in amplifying community-led GBV prevention and response efforts.

The symposium is proudly supported by the Embassies of Ireland, the Netherlands and Switzerland in South Africa and UNESCO whose support underscore a shared commitment to addressing GBV in Southern Africa. For more information and to join, please visit https://www.africalegalaid.com/  and https://csvr.org.za/

Zoom links and details:

Day 1:

Time: Aug 22, 2024, 09:00 AM

Johannesburg   Join Zoom Meeting

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85602832289?pwd=75e11G8GbnbF632A3voeI4yGhLOa8N.1

Meeting ID:       856 0283 2289

Passcode:         085832

Day 2:

Time: Aug 23, 2024

09:00 AM Johannesburg             Join Zoom Meeting

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86419142308?pwd=7amCaRmljbKMbun71zYpfGReifor3b.1

Meeting ID:      864 1914 2308

Passcode:        389736

Media Contacts:

Athini Magodla

Gender Assistant at CSVR

amagodla@csvr.org.za / communication@csvr.org.za

Celine Wanjiru Ngatia

Communications Associate at Africa Legal Aid

celine@africalegalaid.com

— 

About the Partners:

• Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR): Established in 1989, CSVR is an independent NGO dedicated to understanding and preventing violence, promoting gender equality, and building sustainable peace through research, advocacy, and psychosocial support.
• Africa Legal Aid (AFLA): Founded in 1995, AFLA promotes human rights and international justice in Africa with a focus on victim-centred and gender-sensitive approaches.
• Embassy of Ireland: Supports initiatives aimed at promoting human rights and gender equality through collaborative partnerships and development programs in countries of accreditation.
• UNESCO: A United Nations agency dedicated to promoting peace and security through international cooperation in education, science, and culture.
• The Peace and Human Rights Division of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Embassy of Switzerland: The Swiss Embassy in Pretoria represents Switzerland's interests in South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mauritius, Namibia and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The Embassy supports human rights initiatives in the Southern Africa region.
• Embassy of Netherlands: The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Pretoria and the Consulate General in Cape Town represent and protect the interests of the government of the Netherlands, as well as those of Dutch nationals in the Republic of South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland and Lesotho.
• Ubomi Trust: Known for its Philanthropic initiatives

The survey is structured according to the six pillars of the NSP-GBVF and the questions assess the extent of progress made through existing interventions in each community. It also examines the kind of information that communities and individuals have about the NSP's objectives.

From the cycles of political violence in Kenya, the Rwandan genocide and the institutionalised violations in Gambia to the extremist violence in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, sexual violence as a weapon of war has disproportionately affected women and girls in Africa.

This violence has deep roots, as African women and girls have been dehumanised as possessions since the colonial era, which has rendered them especially vulnerable in conflict. The norms and prejudices that are the legacies of historical violence against women and girls need to be confronted through peace and transitional justice efforts.

The colonial obsession with control over the black individual, more specifically the black woman, extended to their mobility, social interaction, offspring, sexual relations and sexuality. For example, in colonial Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, black African women were considered legal minors and expected to adhere to racialised and gendered policies that disqualified them from full societal participation.

In colonial Mauritius, enslaved women from Mozambique, Guinea and other parts of the continent were largely regarded as objects for the sexual pleasure of colonial settlers and male slaves, suffering sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, rape and forced pregnancies. The colonial landscape demonstrated the unequal racialised, gendered and sexualised norm of social interaction that disadvantaged black African women and girls. Equally, most colonial states focused on the perceived fertility of African women as a rationale for cheap "free-slave" labour.

Today, the disproportionate violence against women and girls across Africa resembles the colonial rationale of oppression. Limited social, political and economic participation stunt women within their communities. They largely continue to be confined to their reproductive functions and relevance in marriage only, with countries such as Niger reporting prevalence of child marriage of up to 76%.

Some countries have sought to address sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) through institutional reforms. Morocco, for example, adopted Law 103-13 on Elimination of Violence against Women in 2018. Although progressive, the law has had limited impact because of legal and social norms. For example, unmarried women have underreported rape for fear of prosecution, as premarital sexual relations continue to be illegal in the country while carrying the risk of bringing dishonour on the survivor's family.

Bearing the brunt of armed conflict

With social norms limiting their freedoms, women and girls are more susceptible to conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). In the Democratic Republic of Congo, women and girls represented 98% of the survivors of CRSV treated by Médecins Sans Frontières in 2020.

Importantly, the DRC demonstrates that while conflict does increase the risks of sexual violence, it also occurs outside of the context of armed conflict. There are limited disciplinary actions within the judicial system in the country against perpetrators of sexual violence, which contributes to the ongoing culture of impunity for such violations. Survivors are burdened with feelings of insecurity, isolation and shame, and such perceptions also enjoy a significant acceptance in their communities.

The prevalence of SGBV and CRSV across the continent cannot be isolated as belonging only to modern society and conflicts – it is empirically linked to practices that stretch across the continent's histories. We need to confront the embedded social norms and prejudices that enable violence against women and girls in Africa.

A good way to start is to ensure their active participation in peace and transitional justice processes from start to finish. Through these processes, societies can acknowledge the marginalisation and violence women and girls have experienced, which opens the window for their political, economic and social inclusion in peacetime.

Acknowledging the connection between past and present SGBV and CRSV would make way for a violence-free reality for women and girls – and better societies.

This article was originally published by the Daily Maverick.