Domestic violence in South Africa

This policy brief by the Institute for Security Studies examines the extent and nature of domestic violence in South Africa and the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act of 1998 (DVA). It highlights the discrepancy between official police statistics and community-based surveys, the prevalence of intimate partner violence and femicide, and the systemic failures within the police and court systems to protect victims.

• The Domestic Violence Act of 1998 (DVA) provides a broad definition of domestic violence, covering various intimate and family relationships—including heterosexual, gay, and lesbian partnerships, as well as parent-child and sibling relationships—and multiple forms of abuse, such as physical, sexual, economic, and psychological abuse.
• Official police statistics significantly underestimate the prevalence of intimate partner violence. For example, in Gauteng between April 2008 and March 2009, only 0.3% of adult women reported intimate partner assault to police, while 18.1% reported such violence to researchers.
• Intimate femicide is the leading cause of female homicides in South Africa. While the overall female homicide rate decreased between 1999 and 2009, the proportion of deaths caused by intimate partners rose from 50% in 1999 to 57% in 2009.
• The South African Police Service (SAPS) has a poor record of complying with the obligations set by the DVA. An analysis of complaints from 2001 to 2008 showed that the most common failure was the failure to arrest the abuser (52.5% of complaints), and the police instituted disciplinary proceedings in only 5.1% of cases where the ICD recommended action.
• Court-issued protection orders are frequently not finalized. Between 2009 and 2011, the percentage of applications made final ranged from 34.9% to 40.2%. Factors contributing to this include victims being threatened by respondents, family pressure to not return to court, and administrative failures by the courts.
• The Firearms Control Act of 2000 is credited with reducing gunshot homicides in cases of intimate femicide, which dropped from 2.7 per 100,000 in 1999 to 1.0 per 100,000 in 2009.
• Economic interventions may be effective in reducing domestic violence; a study in eight villages in Limpopo using microfinance combined with gender and HIV training showed a 55% reduction in domestic violence.

APA

Vetten, L. (2014). Domestic violence in South Africa. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PolBrief71.pdf

Chicago

Vetten, Lisa. Domestic violence in South Africa. Institute for Security Studies, 2014. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PolBrief71.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Vetten |first1=Lisa |title=Domestic violence in South Africa |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=November 2014 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PolBrief71.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{vetten2014domestic, author = {Vetten, Lisa}, title = {{Domestic violence in South Africa}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2014}, month = nov, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PolBrief71.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }