Press release

 

Timing: Media release to be sent out on 13 January with infographic

Media targets: News desks (radio, TV, online and print), online women’s titles

 

Just over 350 days left in 2021 to tangibly move the needle on Domestic Violence, says anti-GBV NGO

MOSAIC’s 2021 wish for South Africa – a significant decrease in Domestic Violence and GBV stats

• Globally, six women are killed every hour by someone they know
• In SA, a woman dies every eight hours because of intimate partner abuse
• 53,293 reported sexual offences; 79% were cases of rape
• 3,578 persons were raped in their homes or at perpetrators’ home in just 3 months (July to September 2020)
• 20 000 people in the Western Cape assisted by MOSAIC in 2019-20
• 11,137 people reached through MOSAIC’s domestic violence court support service project
• More than 7,200 interim protection orders granted through MOSAIC’s support at the courts

 Cape Town, 13 January 2021 — Less than two weeks into the New Year, and gender-based violence (GBV) has already re-entered the national conversation in South Africa, amidst a global pandemic and soaring COVID-19 infection rates. As the world rang in a very different New Year, so new reports of rapes, sexual assaults and even killings have slowly begun to trickle in: a city councillor has been accused of rape, an elderly woman was raped on New Year’s Eve, and – perhaps miraculously – a woman stabbed multiple times by her ex-boyfriend at her home over the festive season, survived.

“Tragically, this is to be expected. It might be a New Year, and a young one at that, but we still have significant strides that need to be made in the fight against GBV. As a society, we are certainly having more conversations around domestic violence (DV) and GBV, but just because the conversation is increasing, unfortunately it doesn’t mean this type of pandemic is over,” says Tarisai Mchuchu-Macmillan, Executive Director of anti-GBV non-governmental organisation (NGO) MOSAIC, a community based organisation that works to prevent and reduce abuse and domestic violence by providing holistic, integrated services for the healing and empowerment of women through support services, access to justice and training.

“President Cyril Ramaphosa did not call South Africa one of the ‘most unsafe places in the world to be a woman’ in his foreword to the National Strategic Plan on Gender Based Violence and Femicide for nothing,” says Mchuchu-Macmillan.

 

New year, new chance to change the narrative on GBV

But the year is still young enough for Mchuchu-Macmillan and MOSAIC to hope that 2021 will see tangible steps taken in the fight against domestic Violence and GBV in South Africa. “A new year is a chance to re-set our priorities and tackle challenges afresh – and GBV should be at the top of this priority list, even as the country grapples with COVID-19,” says Mchuchu-Macmillan.

MOSAIC and Mchuchu-Macmillan’s 2021 wish for women is a world where they feel safe and have no fear of gender-based violence, at home or in public. It is a world where abuse and violence against women, however it manifests, is ultimately eradicated in our society.

“The harrowingly high number of media reports on female homicide last year gave the country moment for pause. They showed that the pandemic of GBV and femicide were showing no signs of abating, even as we were in the grip of a global health pandemic,” says Mchuchu-Macmillan.

And, unfortunately, with COVID-19 concerns also keeping many at home, there is also a tangible intersection between the country’s recent lockdowns, and domestic violence in the home: for those whose homes are not a safe space, being locked down in them can be terrifying.

All-in-all, the picture of domestic violence, gender-based violence and femicide in South Africa is an extremely bleak one. Among the many facts and stats related to these available, MOSAIC’s 2021 wish is to see most of these drastically reduced or eliminated:

• SA’s latest National Crime Statistics painted a grim picture in July 2020: the number of reported sexual offences increased from 52,420 in 2018/19, to 53,293 in 2019/20. Of these, around 79% (42,289) were reports of rape.
• Post-lockdown: While there was an almost 19% decrease in the number of reported rape cases, July to September 2020 still saw an eyewatering 8,922 cases reported. According to Police Minister Bheki Cele, a sample of 5,168 rape dockets revealed that more than 69% (3,578 persons) were raped in their homes or at the perpetrator’s home. The majority of those who were raped were women.
• The picture doesn’t look any better globally, either: UN ODC reports that globally, six women are killed every hour by someone they know, while here at home in South Africa, every eight hours a woman dies because of intimate partner abuse.

“The stats are too high and at levels that MOSAIC does not wish to see repeated in 2021. Domestic violence and gender-based violence are still a lived reality for many women and children all over the world and here at home,” explains Mchuchu-Macmillan.

 

Moving the needle – one case at a time

Mchuchu-Macmillan acknowledges that the problem cannot be eradicated overnight– and in fact, many will call the mission to eradicate domestic violence and intimate partner violence a pipe dream. “Even so, we aim high and have committed ourselves to this fight 365 days a year. We aim to change women’s daily lived realities, and ensure that all are living in safety, free from abuse and violence in homes, relationships and communities,” she says.

To this end, Mchuchu-Macmillan is proud of the work MOSAIC did in 2020, even during the most unprecedented of social situations (lockdown): “MOSAIC reached more than 20,000 people in the Western Cape in our 2019/20 financial year, direct and indirect, through all our service programmes: Access to justice, Support and healing, and Empowerment. Our court support service project helped reach more than 11,000 people, which shows us that the issue of domestic violence and the need for safety is quite high.”

In 2019, MOSAIC provided direct services to a total of 23,367 people: 16,527 are direct beneficiaries across all programmes. More than 11,000 people were assisted in courts, receiving crisis counselling and support to apply for interim protection orders. MOSAIC court support staff helped the victims of domestic violence and especially intimate-partner violence Interim Protection Orders (IPO) and more than 7,200 were successful.

“MOSAIC serves anyone who has experienced domestic or sexual abuse and/or violence, however the scale remains tipped against women and girls as evidenced by the numbers of women and girls that access the organisation’s services. 90% of MOSAIC client beneficiaries are women and girls, and we need to ensure that we maximise on preventing violence against women and girls,” says Mchuchu-Macmillan.

Mchuchu-Macmillan says an adequate budget allocation to support the implementation of the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence & Femicide along with the enactment of key GBV bills in 2021 will be a step in the right direction in eradicating domestic violence and GBV in South Africa. The legislative changes include the enactment of the Victim Support Services Bill and amendments to provisions of the Domestic Violence Amendment Bill, the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Bill, and the Criminal and Related Matters Amendment Bill.

“MOSAIC is proud to have contributed to the amendment process of the Domestic Violence Act. As a result of the changes to be made to the Act, we are heartened that MOSAIC beneficiaries are going to be better served and protected by the strengthened protection order system in 2021,” she explains.

“To win the fight and the war against this scourge, we must be deliberate and make it a conscious act to win it every day of the year, for the full 365 days. We have 352 days left of 2021,” concludes Mchuchu-Macmillan.

 

If you, or someone you know, is a victim of gender-based or domestic violence, please contact MOSAIC on 021 761 7585, send us a message on Facebook (@MosaicNGO) or DM us on Instagram (@MosaicRSA) for assistance.

 

ENDS

 

For more information, inquiries or requests for interviews, please contact:

Neo Khumalo

Communications consultant

E: communications@mosaic.org.za

T: +27 067 640 6032 (WhatsApp Calls and messaging)

 

Notes to the editor

Please see below sources for quoted statistics:

1. 2019/20 SA Police Crime Stats Presentation, April 2019 to March 2020
2. SA Police Minister General Bheki Cele, speaking notes, 13 November 2020
3. UN Office ODC, Global Study on Homicide: Gender-related killing of women and girls,2018
4. SA National Strategic Plan on Gender Based Violence and Femicide, 11 March 2020

 

 

About MOSAIC

MOSAIC is a community based non-governmental organisation (NGO) that works to prevent and reduce abuse and domestic violence. This is achieved by providing holistic, integrated services when incidences occur, and supporting clients through the process of healing and rebuilding their lives after a traumatic event.

MOSAIC creates an enabling environment through our holistic and integrated five-pillar service model

• Access to Justice – psychosocial and legal support provided by court support workers, and psychosocial support from MOSAIC’s Sexual Violence Counsellors at Thuthuzela Care Centres
• Support and Healing – Counselling Services, Support Groups and Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights;
• Engaging Men and Boys- Training and Workshops, Support Groups and Counselling for Men
• Empower- Education and Skills Training, Rights Training, Youth GBV Life Skills and Community Dialogues
• Advocacy and Policy- Advancing rights of women and girls by providing evidence from our services to change the system.

The organisation was established in 1993 in response to high levels of violence against women in South Africa, particularly in the form of domestic violence, and in recognition of the silence that many women suffer in unnecessarily, due to either a lack of knowledge of their rights, a lack of confidence to access justice for themselves, or both. MOSAIC’s registered head office is in Cape Town, South Africa.

 

For further information about MOSAIC, please visit www.mosaic.org.za