GBV

African countries have some of the highest levels of physical and sexual violence against women in the world, a report has found.

About 45.6 percent of women in Africa experienced physical and sexual violence, compared to 35 percent globally, according to a research is a collaboration between the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the South African Medical Research Council (MRC).

Two anti-pornography organisations; Women And Men Against Child Abuse and the Family Policy Institute, have called for a boycott of Top TV, which has been granted licences by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa, to broadcast pornography.
 
The organisations argue that pornography leads to the abuse of women and damages children.
 

The Teddy Bear Clinic says that more education is needed to dispel the myth that raping children or having sex with a virgin is a cure for HIV.
 
Teddy Bear Clinic clinical director, Dr Shaheda Omar, argues that, “It’s ridiculous to think that when you are infected, violating a virgin or a victim is going to take away the infection.”

The Family Policy Institute says that Top TV’s airing of pornography channels will only heighten sexual abuse against women and children and further degrade society.

The Family Policy Institute director, Errol Naidoo, points out that, “To launch this in a nation already reeling under the weight of sexual abuse against women and children is nothing short of criminal.”

The United Nations (UN) has signed an agreement with the Democratic Republic of Congo aimed at fighting against rape and sexual violence by armed groups in the strife-torn eastern part of the country.

The accord was signed by DR Congo's Prime Minister, Augustin Matata Ponyo, and the UN's special representative on sexual violence in conflict, Zainab Hawa Bangura, during a visit by Bangura to the country.

In the accord, Bangura and Ponyo "expressed their concern at the persistence of sexual violence committed by armed men mostly in the east of the country".

Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, has announced that at least 200 magistrates will undergo a two-day training workshop on the Sexual Offences Act and the Child Justice Act.

Mogoeng points out that, "The aim of the workshop is to further enhance the skills of regional court magistrates who, in their daily work as judicial officers, preside over sexual offences matters that come before their courts."

The Department of Justice & Constitutional Development has announced that 58 dedicated sexual offences courts will be opened to address a rape crisis of nearly 65 000 attacks a year.

Justice Minister, Jeff Radebe, points out that the courts are set to be ‘fully functional’ by September 2013.

The new courts will sit within existing courts and will hear all cases of sexual assault, including attacks on lesbians and gays.

The Minister for Women, Children and People living with Disabilities, Lulu Xingwana, says dismantling patriarchy is key to bringing down the high levels of violence against women and girls.

Speaking at the Commission on the Status of Women at the UN in New York, which is grappling specifically with the issue of violence against women, Xingwana said South Africa is lobbying within the Africa group over issues that are threatening consensus on the outcome document.

In commemoration of International Sex Worker Rights Day, sex workers and human rights activists have taken to the streets to protest the continued abuse sex workers experience at the hands of the police.

They will be also protesting against the criminal justice system's failure to prosecute the perpetrators.

Approximately 70 percent of sex workers experienced abuse at the hands of police according to a study by the Women's Legal Centre (WLC).