Research released months before SA's historic national disaster declaration of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) reveals a gap between what the justice system offers and what survivors say they actually need.

What justice looks like

Ask a gender-based violence (GBV) survivor what justice means to them, and the answer is probably not what you would expect, said Itumeleng Magoai, the Programme Manager for Gender Justice and Psychosocial Support at the Foundation for Human Rights.

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"When we asked survivors what justice looked like for them, the answer was mostly not about the perpetrator going to jail," said Samantha Vilakazi of the Get Informed Youth Development Centre in Tembisa, one of 22 community-based organisations that participated in a year-long qualitative study led by the foundation.

"It was about healing. It was about the community acknowledging that what happened to them was wrong."

The study, released in July 2025, was conducted across all nine provinces with survivors, families and community-based organisations. Taking a deliberately decolonial and survivor-centred approach, it asked a deceptively simple question: What does justice actually mean to you?

The answers pointed away from courtrooms and convictions. Survivors described justice as safety, dignity, an apology and the ability to rebuild their lives. Many reported that engaging with the criminal justice system caused further harm through corruption, indifference and secondary victimisation.

"From what I have seen, seeking justice kukuzilimaza kakhulu (it is causing...