The End Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) Movement is tasked with implementing the National Strategic Plan on GBVF, aimed at addressing the GBVF epidemic in South Africa.
What is Gender-based violence? Gender-based violence refers to violence that occurs due to role expectations related to the gender associated with the sex assigned to a person at birth, and the unequal power relations between the genders in the context of a specific society. This type of violence can include physical, economic, sexual, psychological, and economic abuse as well as rape, sexual harassment, and trafficking of women for sex, and sexual exploitation.
What is the National Strategic Plan on GBVF? The plan is divided into six focus areas (i.e., pillars for accountability, coordination, and leadership; prevention and re-building social cohesion; justice, safety, and protection; research and information management; economic power; and response, care, support, and healing), with problem analysis, strategic principles, and key deliverables guiding the work of each pillar.
Since 2021, this multi-sectoral collective has been applying a 100-Day Challenge approach to effect change in a selection of the thirty GBVF hotspots in South Africa. The approach is time-bound and makes use of intense collaboration, frequent innovation, and rapid implementation. Based on learnings from crises that were successfully resolved, 100-Day Challenges are fast, and set goals that are almost impossible to achieve. The right team is assembled and committed to the goal, and the work plan evolves as the days go by, with experimentation built into the process. The End GBVF Movement 100-Day Challenges have had significant successes.
For example, in 2023 the Mossel Bay End GBVF 100-Day Challenge team established four hotlines and helpdesks in police stations to provide reliable, safe spaces for victims of GBV. Another example was the Domestic Violence teams who improved the finalisation rate of Domestic Violence cases in participating Limpopo courts from 42% to 78%.
This year, the focus is on providing victim-friendly courts. Municipalities, courts, and TVET Colleges are working together in Limpopo and Mpumalanga, with Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), the South African Local Government Agency (SALGA), Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), and the Justice sector as convenors of the 100-Day Challenges. This first cycle of End GBVF 100-Day Challenges finishes in August 2024.
To Find Out More
- Contact Leonie (leonie@leonievorster.co.za), who represents PsySSA in the End GBVF Collective
- Visit the End GBVF Movement website and the FAQ section
- Follow the End GBVF Movement on social media
Read about the End GBVF Movement activities and opportunities to join the fight against GBVF in the next TVD newsletter