GBV in the form of rape, sexual assault and domestic violence is a significant problem in the GCR as it is across the country.
Respondents who agree that a man can beat a woman
The GCR offers many spaces where lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and inter-sex (LGBTI) people can be themselves, whether at home, work, school, university, or in parks, cafes, bars and clubs. For many LGBTI people the GCR has offered freedoms unavailable in other parts of the country.
Yet at the same time, there are many spaces in the GCR where LGBTI people face homophobia and discrimination. Thus LGBTI people in the GCR can face verbal abuse to sexual assaults, including ‘corrective’ rape and murder just because of their sexuality.
*Nel, J.A. and Judge, M. 2008. ‘Exploring homophobic victimisation in Gauteng, South Africa: Issues,impacts and responses,’ Acta Criminalogica Vol. 21(3): 19-36.
**mambaonline.com/ ActionAid
While there were some differences in the attitudes of men and women to issues of gender-based violence, these were not as striking as might be thought. There were also some differences in attitudes to this topic between different race groups. Income had some impact on responses with those earning between R801 – R12,800 per month being proportionally more likely to think it was OK for a man to hit his spouse in the various scenarios provided. There was also little difference in the attitudes of migrant respondents, although migrants from some provinces (e.g., the Free State) were slightly more likely to think it was OK for a man to hit his partner. Cross border migrants were slightly less likely to think the same. Disturbingly age did not affect responses. The biggest differences in attitudes were found between residents of different municipalities. It is unclear, as yet, as to why such large discrepancies exist.
Although levels of sexual crimes in Gauteng are high, with 12,419 such crimes reported from April 2011 to March 2012, it should be noted that the number has declined since 2008-2009 when 18,176 sexual crimes were reported.*
Nationally women were as likely to be murdered by an intimate partner as a stranger** with one woman in South Africa being killed every 6 hours by an intimate partner.
* SAPS, 2012
** MRC, 2004
