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As the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children end, South Africa’s latest national crime statistics show us that gender matters, that the weapon used matters and that motive matter.
The crime statistics show that crime and violence are nearing levels last seen in the 1990s, when violence peaked in the country. On every one of the 92 days between July 1 and September 30, an average of 76 people were murdered.
In addition to highlighting the extent of South Africa’s violence bloodbath, crime statistics hold crucial information to guide crime and violence reduction interventions.
Gender
Crime and violence in South Africa are deeply gendered, which means that men and women experience these very differently. Men are overwhelmingly the victims of most crime – 63 murder victims a day are male. Women are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence, and while women are less likely to be murdered, they are most at risk of being killed by their intimate partner. Irrespective of the victim’s gender, the perpetrator is almost always a man.
READ: Peter Squires | More guns mean more violence
This raises questions about
the link between masculinity and violence and the effectiveness of campaigns
such as the 16 Days of Activism. While such campaigns help focus attention on
violence against women (albeit for a limited time), they risk perpetuating
stereotypes of men as violent perpetrators and women as helpless victims. By
not recognising the extraordinary vulnerability of men to being victims of
crime and violence, this stereotype increases the risk that men will become
perpetrators, as research shows that men who are victimised are more likely to
offend.
Weapons
While focusing on the
weapon used to commit violence will not address historic, systemic, gendered
violence, it has the potential to reduce its lethality.
For the second quarter running, guns are the leading weapon used in murder, attempted murder and aggravated robbery. Guns are designed to kill, and the more guns there are, the more people are shot and killed, injured or threatened with a gun.
However, as gun numbers steadily increased from 2010/11 due to control breakdowns associated with under-resourcing, poor planning and criminality involving fraud, corruption and theft, gun violence has steadily risen. Presently, 30 people are murdered with a gun and 180 survive an incident of gun violence every day in South Africa.
READ: Anger and tears: The heavy task of reporting on gender-based violence
Globally, research confirms
that limiting the availability of guns saves lives. One of the most compelling
studies is from South America. In 2012, Colombia’s two largest cities, Bogotá
and Medellín, banned public gun carrying. After comparing these two cities with
seven control cities, the study found that while gun death rates had been
similar across all cities prior to 2012, the Bogotá and Medellín gun carrying
ban saved 30 lives every month in these two cities, and that a further 45 lives
could have been saved each month if similar restrictions were implemented in
the seven control cities.
Motive
The motive, or reason for murder, is a third key factor to consider to ensure effective violence reduction interventions. South Africa’s crime statistics show that most murders are not crime-related, but result from arguments. In other words, the majority of murders involve men killing men during an interpersonal dispute. This has various intervention implications. One is that calling for more police officers is unlikely to have much of an effect. Instead of deploying more police officers (or soldiers), we have to understand why violence starts and escalates if we want to break the cycle that all too often results in serious injury or death. Secondly, it shines (another) light on the absurdity of claims that armed citizens keep communities safe by highlighting how the presence of a lethal weapon leads to the risk that an argument could become a murder.
Solutions
Knowing that South Africa’s violence bloodbath is fed largely by men arguing with and then killing other men highlights that understanding and responding to the role of gender and motive as drivers of violence is vital if we are serious about stopping this bloodbath. This process is nuanced and complex, and will take time.
In the meantime, guns are being used to kill, injure and threaten – because they are so readily available. This fact is highlighted by South Africa’s experience under Covid-19 lockdown when alcohol bans, limits on freedom of movement and intensified policing did not affect gun death and injury rates. In fact, the proportion of firearm murders increased during this time, while sharp instrument- and blunt force-related murders decreased.
The evidence is clear: one of the most immediately effective interventions to save lives and reduce crime in South Africa is to reduce the availability of guns.
However, recovery efforts
will only be effective if we close the taps that leak illegal guns into our
communities. The biggest tap is legal guns held by the state and civilians,
with civilians reporting the loss or theft of an average of 24 guns every day.
This means we have to urgently strengthen controls over legal guns and
ammunition to stop leaks into the illegal pool.
Last year, government published a draft amendment to the Firearms Control Act which contained various measures to limit and strengthen controls over state and civilian firearms. South Africa’s latest crime statistics demonstrate the urgency of tabling this bill in Parliament.
- Taylor is a researcher at the NGO Gun Free SA
