Proposed Amendments to GBV-Related Legislation 2020
South Africa’s gender-based violence rates are some of the highest in the world. A large scale change of thinking, legislating, and policing are necessary to curb the perceived nature of GBV. In October 2020, South Africa’s parliament has tabled three new bills to address gender-based violence. Criminal and Related Matters, Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters), and the Domestic Violence Bill are the bills up for amendment. The Wise Collective not only provided their own comments on the bills, but they also presented them to South Africa’s parliament on Friday, October 23, 2020.
Particular to the Criminal and Related Matters Amendment, The Wise Collective is primarily looking to see a change in the court proceedings of GBV cases. For instance, it’s been seen throughout time that the bail system of South Africa has been abused and misused to the degree of perpetrators being released after being accused of violent crimes for less than R 1,000. The Wise Collective proposes that while bail is a right, it is the job of the state prosecutor to always oppose bail. Nevertheless, in instances where bail is granted, we insist that extra prescriptions be set, such as anger management, psychotherapy, and police supervision to name a few. Additionally, The Wise Collective proposes disarmament of police officers and all persons who have standing protection orders against them, more so prevent any such persons from being able to apply for new firearm licenses.
Where the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment is concerned, The Wise Collective’s comments were primarily geared towards the victims of GBV. For example, one of their proposals to parliament was a further and broadly expanded definition of a “vulnerable” person. They made special note towards the economic vulnerability of women as well as the overall LGBTIAP+ communities’ vulnerabilities, especially given the history of sexually targeting them and the overall prevalence of “corrective rape.” Wise has also requested that clarity be given on the guidelines of mandatory reporting of sex crimes committed against children and mentally disabled persons. Additionally, that the specific professionals that will be tasked with mandatory reporting of these crimes be clarified. Outside of the treatment of victims where the law is concerned, The Wise Collective also proposed changes to the section of this bill as it relates to the sex offenders registry. Some of their proposals include a minimum period that offenders must be on the registry, the type of identification information that should be searchable, including but not limited to clear images and privacy encrypted IDs. In addition to CCTV cameras at police stations.
To the effect of the Domestic Violence Amendment, The Wise Collective’s comments include a change in policing and the type of recourse victims of domestic violence should be given. For example, the trust between police and citizenry must be rebuilt and established. To ensure that police are accountable for their actions, The Wise Collective also recommends dash and body cameras to record all police interactions with perpetrators. In addition, when called to the scene of a domestic violence case, police should provide the victim with an emergency protection order to be issued on the spot, that also ensures the perpetrator is immediately removed from the domicile. Wise welcomes the automation of protection orders and seeks to have these issued and served timeously. In addition, the digitization would eliminate the burden of carrying the protection order paper, while also enabling the police anywhere to act swiftly in accessing the necessary information for protecting victims. Finally, and most vehemently, Wise opposes the “gag order” proposed in the DV Act Amendments as they see this as a form of further silencing victims.