GBV

Consultant lead researcher for HBF project on impact of lockdown on Domestic Violence recently spoke to Newsroom Afrika about some of the study’s first set of findings.

On Wednesday 18 August, the Heinrich Böll Foundation hosted its first webinar associated to its “Care and Support in a Time of Epidemic” research project. The recording of the discussion can be watched here.

The increasing data-driven nature of societies raises concerns about how to prevent data misuse and abuse that may harm individuals and communities, particularly marginalized groups. A feminist critique of the model law on data protection of the Southern African Development Community and the EU’s GDPR, however highlights the dangerous gaps that place women and gender-diverse people at risk.

At least 38 countries have seen reports of involuntary sterilisation over the past 20 years, with some of those cases involving women being sterilised against their will whilst giving birth. The BBC recently heard from two members of our partner Her Rights Initiative on their experiences of having been involuntarily sterilised.

Cape Town - A little more than a month since the launch of the National Shelter Movement of South Africa’s (NSMSA) 24-hour toll-free shelter helpline, the centre has revealed that 776 calls have been fielded.

Our partners at the National Shelter Movement of South Africa have launched their own 24-hour toll-free Shelter Helpline. This is the first national helpline exclusively dedicated to helping victims of domestic abuse access shelter services in each of the nine provinces, while also assisting with a variety of other issues that impact survivors. The call centre is based in Cape Town and is currently operated by three social workers. Read the full press release here.

Domestic violence puzzles people. Why does one person in a relationship abuse another; why does the one being abused stay in this relationship; and what should those who know about this do about it? The solution to these dilemmas, proposed by the Department of Justice in its amendments to the 1998 Domestic Violence Act, is this: that everybody must report any knowledge of domestic violence to the police or a social worker – or face criminal charges. This article, based on a submission to Parliament by the author in collaboration with a range of other organisations, including HBF, interrogates this new proposed provision.