A new study by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) has uncovered deeply troubling attitudes towards gender roles and gender-based violence (GBV) in South Africa, revealing widespread beliefs among men that reinforce patriarchal norms and, in some cases, justify violence against women.
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The study, which surveyed over 10 000 people, paints a stark picture of how traditional gender power dynamics persist in the country, with some alarming perceptions about women’s rights, roles and consent.
Released on Monday, the HSRC’s national GBV prevalence study surveyed 10 012 South Africans, including 5 603 women and 4 409 men.
It revealed that nearly 36% of women – approximately 7.8 million individuals – have experienced physical or sexual abuse during their lifetime, with 24% of these cases occurring at the hands of intimate partners.w
Beyond the prevalence of abuse, the study also examined societal attitudes towards gender power relations.
A striking 70% of men in relationships agreed with the view that women should ‘obey’ their husbands, while nearly 23% believed that a wife cannot refuse sex with her husband. This reflects a deeply entrenched belief in male dominance within marriages.
Further, a significant number of men held dangerous views about sexual violence. A concerning 9.9% of men surveyed thought that women were often to blame if they were raped, and 11.9% agreed that a lack of physical resistance by the woman meant it wasn’t rape. Additionally, 15% of men felt that a husband had the right to ‘punish’ his wife if she did something wrong.
While most men (around 85%) were aware of laws in South Africa addressing violence against women, the study found that many men felt the legal system favoured women too much. Some men believed that these laws made it ‘too easy’ for women to file GBV charges against them, indicating a disconnect between legal knowledge and attitudes towards gender equality.
In addition, troubling views on violence emerged from the survey, which revealed 8% of men believed there were situations where a woman ‘deserved to be beaten,’ and a further 32% thought it would be shameful to have a gay son. These findings underscore the continued presence of harmful cultural attitudes that reinforce male authority and justify violence.
The study also highlighted that some of these gendered attitudes were shared by women themselves. Just under 60% of women agreed that a woman’s primary role was to manage the home and care for the family. Over half of the women also believed that it was a woman’s responsibility to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
The survey also revealed that 13.3% of women in relationships thought that if a man had paid the bride price (dowry), he ‘owned’ his wife, while 9.2% believed that a woman must submit to her husband’s sexual demands if he had paid the dowry. Furthermore, just over 9% of women agreed that a husband had the right to punish his wife if she misbehaved.
The study’s authors pointed to the deeply ingrained nature of these gender norms, noting that they are culturally reinforced and contribute to the troubling acceptance of male aggression and control over women.
‘The data reveals entrenched gender norms and power dynamics, with a troubling cultural reinforcement of traditional gender roles that permit male dominance and justify violence in certain contexts,’ the researchers said in their report.
Article written by Aiden Daries for Cape Town ETC.
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