Gender-based violence is increasingly recognised as a profound violation of women's human rights and a major barrier to social and economic development. Domestic violence is notoriously difficult to document and most prevalence studies are considered underestimates, given the reluctance of many women to discuss it. Despite this, various studies have identified a high prevalence of both physical and psychological violence against women in South Africa, highlighting the urgent need for effective legislation. A prevalence study across three provinces in South Africa in 1999 found that 9.5% of women had been physically abused in the previous year. In one province, 28.4% of women reported ever being physically abused and over 50% of women reported one or more types of emotional abuse in the previous year. In another study, more than 40% of male workers in three urban municipalities reported having physically and/or sexually abused their female partners in the previous ten years.
Domestic violence is associated with a wide spectrum of serious health problems among women, ranging from physical injuries to depression and suicide. Violence undermines their autonomy and has a far-reaching impact on women's sexual and reproductive health. South Africa has one of the fastest-growing AIDS epidemics in the world, with over four million people infected and 1500 new infections occurring per day. Violence against women is both a co-factor and a consequence of the AIDS epidemic. Fear of violence compromises a woman's ability to negotiate for safer sexual options, non-penetrative sexual activity, voluntary counselling and testing and disclosure.

Legislation against domestic violence

Legislation in South Africa dealing specifically with domestic violence dates back to 1993 in the Prevention of Family Violence Act. The law was generally viewed as an inadequate response to the problem and was replaced with the new Domestic Violence Act (DVA) in 1998. The DVA was hailed as groundbreaking in a number of respects. It includes a comprehensive definition of domestic violence and covers any kind of "domestic" relationship, including dating relationships (regardless of duration), unlike the previous law which applied only to married couples. It sets out, in clear terms, the duties of the police and increases their powers and those of the courts to confiscate firearms, accompany survivors to collect their personal belongings, grant orders for emergency monetary relief and arrange custody and access to minor children. The police are explicitly obliged to protect abused women and their children, help them find a safe place, obtain medical treatment and counselling services and advise them of their rights and remedies. Failure to comply with these obligations constitutes misconduct. Police powers to arrest are explicitly set out and magistrates' powers to protect abused women were widened to include, e.g. the power to order an abuser to leave a joint home and continue paying rent or mortgage bond. Court proceedings must now be held in camera. Despite some flaws, the DVA was generally welcomed as a vast improvement over prior legislation. Enthusiasm soon gave way to disappointment, however, as delays in implementation grew. Gender activists and organisations providing support services for women understood there were some legitimate logistical constraints, but the general feeling was that the pace of progress was unnecessarily slow. The government lacked a strategy and budget for implementation.

Lobbying, advocacy and social mobilisation for implementation

In 1999, Soul City Institute for Health and Development Communication, in partnership with the National Network on Violence against Women (NNVAW), launched an advocacy campaign to speed up implementation of the DVA. Soul City is an NGO producing prime-time TV and radio dramas and print material to promote social change, health and development; NNVAW is a large coalition of rural and urban grass-roots activists and service organisations. Soul City produced a TV and radio series for broadcast in mid-1999 that addressed domestic violence; the DVA featured prominently in all the project's materials. In addition, as part of the advocacy campaign, Soul City and NNVAW established a 24-hour toll-free line for counselling and referrals, and to raise awareness of women's rights. Counsellors were trained to give information on the new Act.
Advocacy training and strategic planning workshops helped build capacity and formulate a national campaign strategy. The campaign rolled out in synergy with the Soul City broadcast period and piggybacked upon the extensive media hype associated with Soul City's prime-time drama series.
The campaign identified the South African ministers of Justice and Safety and Security and the members of the inter-governmental DVA Implementation Task Team as its primary target audience. The public at large was a secondary target audience. Three key advocacy tools --lobbying, media advocacy and social mobilisation-- were used to mobilise public support for the implementation of the Act, put pressure on the national government to act, present campaign demands directly to provincial ministers and hold elected officials accountable to the public. Through this process, the public was made aware of the new Act and communities got involved in developing local solutions to the problems of implementation and to gender violence in general. Media coverage increased the profile of gender-based violence, gaining greater public support and reaching decision-makers.
The campaign lobbied government officials and the Implementation Task Team. It made presentations to provincial parliaments where advocates put questions directly to provincial ministers and it made submissions to Parliament and the Justice Portfolio Committee.

Throughout the country, journalists in newsrooms received a resource pack and many attended a workshop to familiarise them with the issues covered by the pack. Other media advocacy work included press releases and direct pitching to journalists to generate campaign coverage on TV, radio and in print media. Interviews with Soul City's celebrity actors attracted media attention.

As part of social mobilisation, pamphlets and postcards were distributed throughout NNVAW community structures. NNVAW members organised community meetings, campaign launches and marches, where government ministers and Task Team officials were often guest speakers, giving community members an opportunity to ask why implementation was delayed. Special hearings in provincial parliaments, where community members were given the opportunity to question provincial ministers, generated media coverage.

The campaign was successful and resulted in implementation of the Act in December 1999. The DVA has now been in operation for one year and organisations have been monitoring implementation closely. Mixed reports are emerging concerning the quality of implementation, necessitating ongoing advocacy.

The key to success

The campaign's success is attributed to the combined strengths of the advocacy coalition. The credibility of both organisations in public and government spheres was essential during the lobbying process. Soul City's reputation with the media as a credible source of information contributed to the generation of extensive media coverage. The NNVAW's community-based membership structure facilitated the social mobilisation component of the campaign. The groundswell of grass-roots public support put pressure on the politicians and held them directly accountable to their constituencies. Large protest crowds attracted media attention and generated significant press coverage. Within some communities, the social mobilisation component of the campaign encouraged activity on gender-based violence.
The campaign adopted a constructive approach rather than an adversarial one. It assisted the Implementation Task Team in its work at every opportunity, including mobilising donor funds for training police officers, given the lack of government budgetary allocation. The police received a shortened version of the Soul City television series to use in training.
Advocacy is a powerful tool for social change, providing a voice for civil society to hold government institutions accountable to electoral and constitutional promises at national and international levels and to promote and protect the rights of women.