Gender-Based Violence In South Africa Needs 'Open Dialogue'

President Cyril Ramaphosa has encouraged men to engage in open dialogue about their responsibility towards women and to address the issue of toxic masculinity "All of society should be mobilised to organise these men's dialogues. Every day, various entities devote resources to public engagements, conferences and seminars on various pressing social, economic and political issues of the day. These are fora where this engagement should happen," President Ramaphosa said.

Ramaphosa has moved to make greater efforts to combat GBV, having introduced three pieces of legislation in 2022 aimed at fighting GBV and femicide. The three laws were formulated following the 2018 National Presidential Summit on Gender Based Violence and Femicide which gave rise to the country's National Strategic Plan of Gender-based Violence and Femicide.

Additionally, and as South Africa observes the 16 Days of Activism for no Violence against Women and Children campaign, the Department of Social Development called for accountability on the many cases of sexual violence and harassment that go unreported at sea in the maritime industry.

According to research by Professor Momoko Kitada of the World Marine University (WMU), the male-dominated sector is rife with aggravating factors pointing to sexual harassment that happens onboard different ships, with the enforcement of laws and policies weakened by different geographical jurisdictions.

Violence experienced at sea includes discrimination, harassment, bullying, intimidation, fixed mindset derived from toxic masculinity and body-shaming. The research report concluded that legislation must be complemented by frameworks and platforms to promote gender equality.

South Africa continues to struggle against a high rate of violence against women; in 2017, Minister Nathi Mthethwa said that every eight hours, a woman is killed, with at least half dying at the hands of their intimate partners.

Anti-femicide protests in 2019 prompted the World Economic Forum to release a statement which read: "Spiraling levels of violence against women in Africa require immediate action from governments and businesses, including tangible measures to create safe spaces. The failure to protect women is not just a moral issue; it also comes with a high economic cost."