Femicide refers to the intentional killing of females (girls or women) based on their gender. The term femicide was first coined in 1992 by American activist Diana Russell and English activist Jill Radford. In their definition, they wanted to differentiate femicide from the common homicide to avoid gender neutrality by emphasizing that femicide is a gendered form of killing.
Femicide incidents in South Africa
South Africa has recently attracted international attention after anti-femicide protests rocked the nation, following the murders of several women and some university students. One such murder involved a University of Cape Town 19-year-old student called Mrwetyana, who was killed by a 42-year-old post office worker after being raped by the same worker.
In another incident, an ex-boyfriend shot and killed a Mangosuthu University of Technology student, Zolile Khumalo at her Hotel residence at Durban’s point.
Another femicide incident involved a 25-year-old East London boxer and a karate champion, Leighandre Jegels, who was shot dead by her policeman lover who also later succumbed in hospital. At the time of the incident, she was in the company of her mother in East London where she lived.
Also, a South African High Court in South Gauteng sentenced a man to more than 30 years in prison after being found guilty for the murder of a woman named Karabo Mokoena.
These events and others have raised questions concerning the safety of women in South Africa. Whereas there are laws that have been enacted to protect women, there seems to be a slow implementation of those laws thereby making the rate of femicide to be continually on the rise.
What is the femicide rate in South Africa?
Statistics from the World Health Organization indicate that South Africa’s femicide rate was 12.1 per 100,000 women in 2016 and has since then increased five times compared to the global average femicide rate of 2.6 per 100,000. In 2017, it had been recorded by the World Health Organisation that 38% of the murders of women were committed by the male intimate partner.
Surprisingly, the actual murder rates of women in South Africa could be probably higher than the ones indicated by the World Health Organization. For instance, if all factors surrounding women murders are to be provided by the South African police service and taken into account, the femicide rate can rise up to 15.2 female victims for every 100,000 representing an average of 3 murdered women per hour.
However, there are more shocking statistics regarding femicide in certain countries other than South Africa.
For instance, the World Health Organization statistics on femicide indicate that three countries namely; Honduras, Jamaica, and Lesotho have been documented to have the highest femicide rates which stand at 32.7, 15.5 and 15.4 respectively.
What is South Africa Doing to tackle femicide?
Following the brutal murder of the University of Cape Town student, president Cyril Ramaphosa joined in condemning the killing of women and young girls. He termed the incident as a very dark period for South Africa as a country.
The South African union of students has also challenged men in higher learning institutions to stand up and speak against the abuse of women and girls.
Also, there is a possibility that the South African law could be reviewed to incorporate death punishment for such offenders. The matter is currently subject to discussion according to the Justice and Correctional Service Minister, Ronald Lamola.
