Citation

Shefer T. Afr. Safety Promot. 2013; 11(2): 1-13.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Institute for Social and Health Sciences, University of South Africa)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The first few months of 2013 were testimony to the pervasiveness of gender-based violence (GBV) internationally. A number of high profile cases of rape and femicide in Southern Africa and elsewhere were devastating reminders that brutal violence against women persists across the globe. Many of the papers in this special edition indeed make reference to these cases of sexual violence. In India, the gang rape and killing of Jyoti Singh Pandey in New Delhi at the end of 2012 was followed by a wave of political action against GBV in India in early 2013 with international ripple effects. In South Africa, the violent rape and murder of a young woman, Anene Booysen, followed shortly afterwards by a high profile femicide (the murder of Reeva Steenkamp by international sportsman Oscar Pistorius) in early 2013, similarly gave rise to a widespread politicised focus on violence against women and children in this country. In these two countries, and globally, an accelerated public call to mobilise against GBV and address the conditions that facilitate it were evident for much of the year. While such a focus is of course welcomed by long-term campaigners against violence against women and by researchers who have taken forward the project of understanding and responding to the complex contexts of such violence, especially in many post-colonial countries historically ravaged by both structural violence and violent conflict, there are also growing concerns about how popular representation and discourse may hold further challenges for the fight against GBV. To ensure that our responses to violence do not perpetuate or legitimise the very conditions that make such violence possible, we need to be critically reflective of the subtle messages implicit in the multiple social responses to GBV, from prevention efforts to mass action in the media and public campaigns and to supporting victims. This special issue addresses responses to GBV across diverse sectors, focusing on response at multiple levels and in the broadest definition of response to include social science research on community perceptions, health service and educational institutions, and to larger forms of response including public discourse in the media, legal cases and literature.

Language: en