Conclusion

In the quest to achieve sustainable development, the government of South Africa faces the incredible task of eradicating gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) and restructuring a historically unequal economy that continues to marginalize women and girls. What has become clear from the numerous studies discussed in the preceding chapters is that South Africa’s high rate of GBVF cannot be attributed to a single factor. There are several contributing factors which are drivers of this “pandemic” including, inter alia, the legacy of apartheid and colonialism, high rates of unemployment, patriarchy, and other factors. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown exacerbated GBV in the home environment. During this period homes increasingly become an enclave of cruelty, rape and violence for women and girls who were effectively trapped with abusive family members. They had nowhere to report such incidents to or even anywhere to go to, to escape the danger seriously impacting the rates of GBV. Research has highlighted that GBVF occurs within a complex interplay of individual, family, community, and social factors. Even though all women are at risk of violence in every society in the world, not all women are equally vulnerable to acts and structures of violence. The chapter concludes by advocating for the reframing of conversations and initiatives on GBV from individual actions to the broader context in which GBV is allowed to persist.