Lisa Vetten
What has 2000 contributed to combating violence against women?
For rape in particular, this year represents something of a trough in what seems like a cyclical pattern of outcry, reaction, forgetfulness, and rediscovery – leading to further outcry, reaction and so on.
Rape generated considerable publicity during 1997 and 1999, but garnered less coverage in 1998 and 2000. Perhaps only so much horror and cruelty can be endured before shock wears off and indifference or numbness sets in; we forget until such time as we can bear to look and hear again.
Another spinoff of 1999's intense local and international scrutiny of South Africa's rape statistics (and other crime figures) was the government's declaration of a moratorium on the release of crime figures.
We began 2000 not knowing how many rapes occurred in 1999 and we end 2000 still not knowing. Yet in this information vacuum there is no public outcry.
Plotting the peaks and troughs of public and state interest provides an opportunity to observe which interventions are ad hoc, knee-jerk responses to public outcry, and which are carefully informed strategic planning and implementation.
Ultimately, Steve Tshwete, minister of safety, must be thanked for allowing us to see beyond the rhetoric of official utterances on rape. His comment to an American television crew that he'd been standing on a street corner for over 23 seconds without observing a single rape could be interpreted as cynically downplaying the extent of the problem.
Unsurprisingly, while the department of justice spent the year setting up specialist rape courts, the department of safety opted instead for high-profile road blocks and stop-and-search operations. Perhaps arresting illegal immigrants offers some crime-fighting value, but as a tactic, it does little to diminish rape and domestic violence.
On the plus side, the new Domestic Violence Act came into effect. The Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) reported to parliament how many complaints it received on police failure to act on domestic violence matters, raising hopes that significant attention and resources would now be provided to assist the police in implementing the legislation.
Much work has still to be done with other state departments responsible for making the act work. This should not surprise us in circumstances where too few untrained court and police personnel are expected to work miracles of transformation. To what extent does this reflect where policing priorities lie?
The government's recourse to the fiscal-discipline/not-enough-resources argument to explain non-existent or incomplete delivery is evidently moot, considering two decisions regarding state expenditure. The first is the decision to spend R43 billion buying arms and the second the size of the salaries paid to members of the Scorpions – considerably larger than those to their SAPS and department of justice counterparts.
If 2000 offers any lessons, they are the need to develop and maintain our lobbying skills around the issue of violence against women, and to actively intervene in state budgeting processes. We need to ensure that government moves from planning and statements of intent to implementation.
Lisa Vetten is the former Manager of the Gender Programme at the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation.
In "Reconstruct", The Sunday Independent, 17 December 2000.
© Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation
CSVR is a multi-disciplinary institute that seeks to understand and prevent violence, heal its effects and build sustainable peace at the community, national and regional levels.
