ALICIA HERBERT | It is government’s duty to speak out when equality is threatened

Every eight hours a woman dies at the hands of her intimate partner in South Africa. And in the last year, there was a 52% increase in the number of women murdered across the country, with women in the Eastern Cape experiencing disproportionately higher levels of gender-based violence (GBV) than anywhere else.

It is against this backdrop that President Cyril Ramaphosa pledged to make ending violence against women and children South Africa’s foremost priority at the second Presidential Summit on GBV and Femicide in November last year. During the first three months of this year, 11 women were killed and more than 100 reported rapes took place, on average, every day.

It was those staggering statistics that prompted me to travel to Mthatha in the Eastern Cape in April — a breathtakingly beautiful, rural province, where, through the GBVF Fund, the UK supports organisations working to address GBV. I had the privilege of meeting incredible survivors and activists working in their communities to push back on patriarchal attitudes which uphold and perpetuate this violence.

I listened to their stories of how vague legalities around marital status translate into women being denied access to the resources they need to leave abusive relationships, and how a culture of silence around intimate partner violence, alongside a lack of access to sexual and reproductive health services, extends suffering.

I learnt how economic independence, accessible healthcare and safe spaces without stigma are crucial to helping these women to find a way forward.

UK support extends beyond the Eastern Cape and so the British high commissioner, Antony Phillipson, will, this month, visit communities we partner with in the Western Cape, and meet grassroots organisations working on the front line to combat violence against women and girls.

This Women’s Day is an opportunity to reflect on the progress and enduring challenges faced by women and girls in South Africa and beyond.

Globally there has been significant progress to advance the rights of women and girls. Now more than ever, there are more girls in school; women represented at senior levels in the public and private sector; improved legislation in many countries to address in-person and online GBV; and societies are chipping (slowly) away at the gender pay gap. Increasingly, individuals and communities around the world are recognising and standing up for their rights, no matter their gender, identity or sexual orientation.

Despite this, we have also seen a concerning trend emerge; a “rollback” of the fundamental human rights in many parts of the world, where laws and policies protecting equality are being undermined. We have seen an attack on women’s control over their own bodies; an attempt to discourage and prevent women’s participation in public life; and a re-normalisation of sexism.

As set out in our recently published International Women and Girls Strategy, the UK is committed to working with partners like South Africa to challenge the rollback of rights. Indeed, last year, during President Ramaphosa’s state visit hosted by His Majesty King Charles III, the UK and South African governments released a joint statement setting out a shared commitment to protect and promote women’s rights, in particular reproductive rights, and our determination to prevent this dangerous rollback, which threatens not only progress for women but for all of society.

And so, my visit in April was also an opportunity to build on that partnership. I discussed and explored with minister Dlamini-Zuma how the UK and South Africa could collaborate even more closely, to support the government’s leadership on addressing GBV domestically with the National Strategic Plan, and in international forums.

Globally we need the dedication of governments and individuals, working alongside the UK and South Africa, to speak out when equality is threatened.

Despite the challenging statistics and stories I heard during my visit, I left South Africa full of admiration for the commitment of those individuals, organisations and leaders determined to move forward and press for progress together.   

*Alicia Herbert is the UK’s director of education, gender and equality and special envoy for gender equality