Gender-based violence in Africa is often treated as a legal, social or policing problem. But these responses don’t fully address the conditions that shape the lives of women facing violence or the conditions they face in recovery. Based on their expertise in law, the criminal justice system and their relationship with social justice issues, Azwihangwisi Judith Mphidi and Debra Pheiffer reviewed 10 research papers on responses to gender-based violence. Their findings offer important lessons from South Africa on how survivors are rebuilding their lives.
What are the biggest challenges that survivors of gender-based violence face?
The studies we reviewed reflected the fact that women don’t experience violence as only a legal problem, or only an economic one, or only a psychological one. They experience it across all dimensions of their lives.
Survivors need more than emergency shelters or a legal case. They need safety, income, belonging, dignity and opportunities to lead.
The most important lessons from our study were that survivors are not passive beneficiaries waiting for rescue. They are innovators, organisers and leaders.
