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Advocacy and Policy

Using a range of advocacy strategies to press for change, including legal and policy analysis, informed by data, stories and survivor experiences that we will take into public and policy debates and engagements, engage media, convene and work with various coalitions, to effect the necessary system changes and strengthening to ensure equitable access to care, support, safety, security and justice.

Our advocacy and policy objective is to ensure that there is a coordinated, monitored and effective domestic violence response system in which system actors respond to the needs of victims when they report incidences of domestic violence and that the follow up services are accessible and integrated into the DV response service to ensure that victims are SAFE at home, relationships and communities. Advocacy and policy is a strategy we use that anchors all our services, activities and interventions.

Our core advocacy and policy work is focused on the Domestic Violence Amendment Act, 2021, and it’s implementation, ensuring that we strengthen the protection order system and all elements of the administration of domestic violence justice.  Our advocacy strategy extends to whatever makes the system stronger to prevent and respond to domestic and intimate-partner violence.

MOSAIC advocates for strengthening the domestic violence care, safety, security and justice system at the local, provincial and national levels. MOSAIC connects with survivors’ experiences of violence through its service programmes, convenes and coordinates multi-stakeholder collaborative platforms, to advance protection and safety of survivors to which information on barriers experienced, weaknesses in laws and policies are gathered and advanced.

 

MOSAIC’s core advocacy strategy is enhanced by activating people’s, especially women’s consciousness and confidence to claim their rights and ensure that they are safe in relationships, homes and communities.  

Therefore, we

  1. Demand and monitor the formulation and implementation of directives, regulations that ensure equitable service delivery linked to universal access and a coordinated response;
  2. Challenge the harmful beliefs, attitudes, norms and practices that are barriers to an effective DV response system;
  3. Survivors are able to take action on their decisions to report to authorities and access justice (accessibility and effective response);
  4. Coordinate and strengthen DV response through convening and coordinating multi-stakeholder platforms at local, provincial and national levels;
  5. Internal and external strengthening of MOSAIC advocacy focus through training and capacity building

Continued advocacy will ensure that

  • Our gains last,

Survivors’ have greater access to effective and responsive post-DV services that will ensure that ‘protection orders protect’ and that they feel safe in homes, relationships and communities

The Prevention of Family Violence Act (113 of 1993) was the first legislation focussed on responding to domestic violence, repealing the sections of the Criminal Law and Criminal Procedures Amendement Act of 1989. The Act was the first to declare that forced sex within a marriage be classified as rape, and placed an obligation to report suspected ill-treatment of children.

Although seen as progressive at the time, the Act was limited in its definitions of domestic violence relationships and what was considered domestic violence.

The MOSAIC court support services, working under the Prevention of Family Violence Act were officially launched in Mitchells Plain Court in 1997.

  • From the Prevention of Family Violence to Domestic Violence  In 1997/98 – MOSAIC made submissions to the department of justice in the process of amending the law to be more inclusive. Through a consultative process, the Domestic Violence Act (116 of 1998) was promulgated in 1998. At the time seen, globally, as one of the most progressive laws addressing Domestic Violence.
  • Review and amendment of the Domestic Violence Act 116 of 1998, as amended 2021 (2020 – ongoing) 2020 – In response to the resolutionemanating out of the First Presidentional Summit on Gender-based Violence and Femicide,  to review GBVF legislation, the DOJCD embarked on a review of the Domestic Violence Act.

MOSAIC played a key role in informing and shaping the current Act through formal written and oral submissions, lobbying legislation developers and members of parliament, generation of learning materials  and bringing together key stakeholders working in DV for collective submissions and advocacy efforts.

The key outcomes of these advocacy actions include:

  • Removal of blanket mandatory reporting – the first iteration of the draft legislation included mandatory reporting of all forms of DV. Drawing on our 30 years of working together with survivors of DV, we understand the importance of agency for women navigating their safety and the safety of their children. MOSAIC published a learning brief and co-coordinated a civil society collective to advocate against the mandatory reporting of acts of DV against adult persons. In the final iteration of the Act, mandatory reporting is only required for vulnerable groups including children, persons with disabilities and older persons.
  • Increased efficiency for consideration of applications and service of protection orders – MOSAIC’s experience and research has shown service delivery inconsistencies and inefficiencies. These learnings contributed to the inclusion of more definitive language for the timeframes, including a 24-hour turnaround time for the service of POs.

 

The work continuesThe amendments to the Domestic Violence Act 116 of 1998 were promulgated on the 25 January 2022, and came into operation on 14 April 2023. This is only the first step – MOSAIC continues to monitor the implementation of the Act, this includes the finalisation of the directives of departments mandated by the Act.

What is the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide?

The National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (NSP GBVF) is South Africa’s comprehensive framework to combat the deep-rooted crisis of gender-based violence (GBV) and femicide in the country. It was developed in response to mounting public outrage and a call for action, following the Presidential GBV and Femicide Summit in 2018. The plan aims to unite government, civil society, and the private sector to address GBV systematically by focusing on prevention, protection, justice, and support for survivors. It also promotes accountability at all levels and outlines measures for legislative reforms, resource allocation, and the strengthening of services to create a safer and more equitable society for all women, children, and vulnerable groups. The NSP GBVF reflects the collective demand for urgent and sustained action against GBV in South Africa.

MOSAIC’s role in the NSP GBVF

Before the launch of the NSP GBVF by the Presidency in 2019, MOSAIC co-led the civil society movement calling for a fully-costed, comprehensive National Strategic Plan to end GBV culiminating in the handing over of the civil society draft NSP GBVF in 2016 – Read more about the Stop Gender Violence Campaign here.

MOSAIC now forms an integral part in the coordination and operations of three pillars of the NSP GBVF and participates in the End GBVF Collective – the coordinating structure of the NSP GBVF located within the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities in the Presidency.

“It’s not about being the perfect parent. It’s about being the present one.” -Tony Dungy

  • Creating an opportunity for equal parenting
  • Outcome
    • 10 days parental leave for fathers
    • Adoptive leave

Engagement of national and regional platforms

  • NSP GBVF
  • DOJCD GJF
  • PDIA
  • Violence Prevention Forum
  • VEP Forum

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Mitchell’s Plain Office
Cnr Pyrennes & Kilimanjaro
Tafelsig
Mitchell’s Plain
7785

+27 (0)21 397 3291

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Khanyisa Centre
Philippi
7785
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Paarl Magistrate Court
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Paarl
7646
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