In South - Africa, approximately 1 out of every four South African women are survivors of domestic violence. These women are abused verbally, sexually, and physically by past or previous partners. Each day, 1 in every 6 women who die in Gauteng is killed by an intimate partner.
Domestic Violence Facts: According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, domestic violence acts generally fall into the following categories:
Physical Violence: The victim physically suffers at the hand of the attacker, experiencing slapping, pinching, bruising, and in worst cases, murder. It often goes overlooked that domestic violence begins with verbal abuse and progresses to small and infrequent events. This domestic violence will then escalate into physical attacks, rough contact, and serious abuse to the victim. These consequences can be serious for the victim.
Sexual Abuse: In many cases, physical attacks are accompanied by sexual violence, or attacks escalate to sexual violence. Psychological Abuse: Psychological or mental abuse, such as possessive behavior, the destruction of personal property, verbal abuse, harassment, and deprivation of money are other forms of domestic abuse. Although no physical damage is caused, these are not to be taken lightly.
Domestic Violence Fact: Domestic Violence Follows Women to the Workplace
Although domestic violence isn’t conceived as a work-related problem, it is. Abuse, threatening behavior, and acts of violence do go beyond the women’s home environment and show up at work. Domestic Violence perpetrators contact the victim via phone, email, and by other resources, checking on and pressuring their victims. Sometimes this abuse may extend to co-workers as well. Domestic Violence Fact: Approximately 20,000 workers are threatened or attacked in their workplace yearly, usually by a partner or spouse. Domestic violence also affects an individual’s ability to keep a job. The following are warning signs of domestic abuse:
• Has a co-worker become withdrawn socially?
• Are he or she showing signs or evidence of assault or bruising?
• Does he or she cry or become agitated when talking on the phone?
• Does your co-worker receive frequent personal calls?
• Is his or her job suffering?
If a victim confides in you, believe them and encourage them to talk about the situation. Avoid pressuring your friend or co-worker, respect confidentiality, and do not judge them. Inform them they are not alone, and they are not to blame. Learn the domestic violence facts and become empowered. You have the ability to change how domestic violence affects females in the workplace. Raise awareness for this concern.
To get reliable statistics on violence against women in South Africa is very difficult. The number of reported cases is very high, but many cases go unreported. The incidence of battery or domestic violence is particularly hard to measure because:
• The police do not keep separate statistics on assault cases perpetrated by husbands or boyfriends.
• Many women are still unaware of their rights when reporting abuse.
• Women traumatized by an assault are unlikely to be assertive and insist on their rights. Many women are afraid of further violence from the perpetrator if they attempt legal action. This is even more compounded by the introduction of the new Domestic Violence Act, which a lot of women have not yet grasped. The challenge exists for the Act, including the regulations to be made an accessible form of legislation to benefit and protect women in all areas of their lives. Effective implementation of the Act also needs to be ensured, for effective legal preventative measures (protection order) and police escorts to abused women.
About the Author:
This document was compiled by Mr. HJ Snyman. Copyright © 2011 by Jaco Snyman Private/forensic Investigations - All Rights Reserved. Visit us online at:
http://www.privatejustice.co.za/
