South Africa faces a persistent epidemic of gender-based violence (GBV), despite efforts to address it. In 2024, a groundbreaking survey by the HSRC highlighted the enduring various forms of violence, including physical and sexual violence, psychological, economic and emotional abuse experienced by women over the age of 18 in the country. The study highlighted higher victimisation among black African women and women with disabilities. The HSRC recently hosted a webinar that focused on gender-based violence and femicide perpetrated against vulnerable groups of women in South Africa. It included women with disabilities, women from the LGBTQIA+ community, black African and older women.

Thousands protest against gender-based violence outside Parliament in Cape Town, South Africa, September 2019. Photo: Ashraf Hendricks/Groundup (CC BY-ND 4.0)

While overall violent crime in South Africa decreased in the second quarter of 2024, gender-based violence (GBV) crimes increased. Between July and September 2024, 957 women were murdered, 1 567 survived attempted murders and 14 366 experienced assaults resulting in grievous bodily harm. In addition, 10 191 rapes were reported. At the end of 2024, the HSRC released The First South African National Gender-Based Violence Study. This report detailed the prevalence of physical, sexual, emotional, psychological and economic violence experienced by women in all nine provinces. To discuss some of the survey’s findings, the HSRC recently hosted a webinar titled: Addressing poverty and inequality as drivers of gender-based violence and femicide perpetrated against vulnerable populations in South Africa: The importance of economic empowerment interventions. The webinar focused on poverty and inequality as drivers of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) perpetrated against women, women with disabilities, women from the LGBTQIA+ community in South Africa, black African women and older women (over the age of 60).

Types of abuse

The HSRC survey showed that a third (33.1%) of South African women over the age of 18 had experienced physical violence in their lifetime. During the webinar, Ncumisa Yazo, a social worker from Mosaic, an organisation that aims to prevent gender-based violence and support survivors, said that most of the survivors she encountered in her work had experienced physical abuse. “Most of the cases are intimate partner cases,” she said. Physical abuse included the intentional application of force to another person and assault with the intent to cause bodily harm.

Another common type of abuse experienced by women in South Africa is psychological and emotional abuse. This abuse includes verbal insults, harassment and coercion. Yazo explained that most of the survivors she encountered did not take this type of abuse seriously, as they don’t believe it is abuse. According to the HSRC survey, one in four women had experienced emotional abuse in their lifetime, and more than 50% of women admitted to having experienced controlling behaviours.

Yazo reported that the most common type of abuse experienced by the survivors she encountered as a social worker had been economic abuse. This type of abuse included the unreasonable deprivation of economic or financial resources, which a victim was legally entitled to or required out of necessity. The HSRC study showed that one in eight women over the age of 18 had experienced financial abuse.

Sexual violence was defined in the HSRC study as the forcing, manipulation or coercion of someone into a sexual act against their will. According to this definition, 9.8% of women over the age of 18 had experienced sexual violence in their lifetime, and over 35% of women had experienced physical and/or sexual violence.

Women with disabilities

“Women with disabilities are one of the poorest populations in the world,” said Dr Ingrid van der Heijden, a research consultant in inclusive sexual and reproductive health, during the webinar. “The risk of lifetime GBV for women with disabilities increases with the severity of their disability.”

Figure 1 shows that among ever-partnered women (women who have had a former or a current partner), those with disabilities faced higher risks of violence than those without disabilities. Women with disabilities (29.3%) had experienced overall lifetime physical abuse at a rate higher than women without disabilities (21.7%). Similarly, women with disabilities (14.6%) had experienced twice as much sexual violence as women without disabilities (7.2%).

Figure 1. Intimate partner violence (IPV) among ever-partnered women aged 18 years and older

Source: Zungu et al., 2025

This was also true of other types of violence. Of the women with disabilities, 31.9% had experienced emotional abuse in their lifetime compared to 24.2% of women without disabilities. Women with disabilities had also experienced a higher prevalence of lifetime economic abuse and controlling behaviours, at 16.3% and 60% respectively, compared to 12.8% and 57.4% respectively, among women without disabilities.

Poverty, disability and GBV are directional and cyclic, explained Van der Heijden. Women with disabilities are discriminated against in the job market, poverty increases the risk of GBV and exposure to GBV leads to poor health, which exacerbates the disability. Poverty, structural inequality and reliance on partners and caregivers are well-known drivers of generating violence. Women with disabilities often see their grant allowances exploited by caretakers. Moreover, high levels of stigma, functioning difficulties and societal barriers often reduce women with disabilities’ ability to leave violent relationships and access care.

Van der Heijden added that to address GBV among women with disabilities, stakeholders need to address intersecting factors of poverty, disability, stigma and restricted economic opportunities.

Older women

At the webinar, Lulama Sigasana, the Older Persons Programme Manager at Ikamva Labantu – an organisation that empowers thousands living in vulnerable township communities across Cape Town – shared findings of a study on elder abuse.

Commissioned by Ikamva Labantu, the study found a high prevalence of elder abuse in Cape Town and eThekwini townships, with older women facing extreme violence. Abuse often took place in multigenerational settings where perpetrators were family members, such as children and grandchildren.

Sigasana said that financial abuse and physical abuse are the two most common forms of abuse. Incestuous rape and sex trafficking are also common among women over the age of 60, and societal taboos discouraged victims from reporting these assaults. Other types of abuse include accusations of witchcraft, unlawful confinement, neglect and the unwanted burden of having to parent grandchildren.

The study revealed that the strongest risk for abuse was in families where children or grandchildren abused substances. Other risk factors at the individual level include frailty, dementia, possession of assets (money, goods), technology challenges (leading to financial exploitation) and a lack of awareness of one’s legal rights. Community factors included weakened support structures and tolerance or normalisation of abuse. At the societal level, the weaknesses in the criminal justice system and social services limit older people’s protection.

To protect women over the age of 60, Sigasana said, stakeholders need to raise older people’s awareness of their rights, strengthen caring family relationships, build community networks, and involve civil society and faith-based organisations.

The LGBTQIA+ Community

Nicole Alexander, the director of Pride Shelter Trust – a shelter that provides short-term accommodation to the LGBTQIA+ minority groups during crisis periods – noted that the susceptibility of women in these communities to GBV was because of intersecting vulnerabilities.

Trans, lesbian, and other queer-identifying women in South Africa often face intensified vulnerability despite the country’s strong constitutional protections. Many are rejected or abused by family, friends, partners, or religious communities, which can lead to homelessness, mental health challenges, and substance use. Additionally, government social support programs and shelters frequently lack staff training and inclusive policies, resulting in further discrimination or denial of services.

According to Alexander, decreasing the vulnerability of women in the LGBTQIA+ community requires a four-pronged approach that includes personal development, psycho-social support, physical health and wellness, and reintegration.

Impact

The HSRC’s GBV survey, along with experts who attended the HSRC’s webinar, showed that GBV in South Africa is common, intersectional and economically entangled. At the handover of the HSRC’s survey results, HSRC divisional executive of Public Health, Societies and Belonging Prof. Khangelani Zuma said, “We need data that can inform multidisciplinary and holistic approaches to promote gender equity. Whilst as a country we have policies that are aimed at combatting gender-based violence, implementation, funding and cultural norms that are perpetuating this violence remain a challenge.” Similarly, at the webinar, HSRC researcher Natisha Dukhi said that entrenched cultural norms continue to drive gender-based violence in South Africa. “It’s up to us… we need to be held accountable as well, and it’s a shame on our side if we do nothing about it.”

Research contacts and acknowledgements

This article was written by HSRC science writer Jessie-Lee Smith, based on the webinar, ‘Addressing Poverty and Inequality as Drivers of Gender-Based Violence and Femicide in Vulnerable South African Populations: The Importance of Economic Empowerment Interventions’, which was co-hosted by the HSRC and Stellenbosch University. The event followed the recent release of The First South African National Gender-Based Violence Study, with acknowledgements available at the provided link. For more information about this study, contact Dr Nompumelelo Zungu (PHSB strategic lead) at mzungu@hsrc.ac.za or Prof. Khangelani Zuma (principal investigator and PHSB division executive) at kzuma@hsrc.ac.za.

With thanks and acknowledgement to all the webinar speakers: Ncumisa Yazo (Mosaic), Lulama Sigasana (Ikamva Labantu), Prof. Jill Hanass-Hancock (South African Medical Research Council), Dr Ingrid van der Heijden (Inclusive Sexual and Reproductive Health Consultant), Nicole Alexander (Pride Shelter Trust), and Dr Jill Ryan (Stellenbosch University). We also appreciate the article input provided by Dr Natisha Dukhi, senior research specialist in the HSRC’s Public Health, Societies and Belonging (PHSB) Division, and Drs Dane Isaacs and Gadija Khan, senior research specialists in the Developmental, Capable and Ethical State Division.