SJD1501-20-S2-85T

Giyane Matoase
Student: 67709982
Assignment 5

1. Internet source | News24 Published 30 July 2020

Changing laws not enough: IPV a result of gender inequality, alcohol abuse- EXPERTS
https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/changing-laws-not-enough-
intimate-partner-violence-a-result-of-gender-inequality-alcohol-abuse-experts-
20200730
Accessed on 05 October. 2020

2. The article comprehend what the National Council of Provinces implemented to

introduce a panel of experts to virtually measure on South Africa’s femicide
legislation and to deal with the crisis of intimate partner violence which is the
leading cause of female homicide and the most extreme form, as well as
consequence of intimate partner violence. South Africa’s Medical Research Council
also has shown that Intimate femicide is double the global homicide rate and
according to experts, there is no reliable estimate on the prevalence of gender
based violence and the director of the University of Cape Town’s Children Institute,
Professor Shanaaz Mathews hypothesized that laws alone is not enough and that we
need to think about prevention early, to prevent the risk of femicide later.

3. I find the article captivating and raising awareness of the seriousness of intimate
partner violence lasting harmful effects on individuals, families, and communities
namely its implementation to address our current crisis on gender based violence
and to find a way to prevent the risk of femicide later. The goal is to stop it from
happening in the first place with prevention measures by promoting healthy,
respectful, nonviolent relationship and addressing change at all levels of the social
ecology that influence intimate partner violence.

4. I believe this article and the topic of Intimate partner violence in general relates to
our criminal justice system because women entering the court system face a
challenging experience, in part, because a courtroom can be an intimidating and
difficult place for any person, and in part because women victimized by crimes in
which the offender is known to them face distinctive difficulties when they seek the
court’s remedies.

5. The two main key role players in this articles is gender inequality and intimate
partner violence concerns by Shanaaz Mathews, National Council of Provinces and
SA Medical research Council.
 6. No, because court systems are, by their nature, adversarial through civil and criminal
rules of procedure and they set out legal proceedings that give little control to a
victim and expose her directly to the offender. In addition, victims are “asked to
recount a violent episode, not in the supportive or safe environment of a therapy
session, but rather to a defense attorney whose role it is to question their credibility,
dispute their memory, or even to challenge whether they are telling the truth and
beyond those challenges, women who reach out to the court for protection may
have some ambivalence about having a partner arrested and may be fearful
regarding the ability to financially provide for herself and her children if she is
financially dependent on the offender.

“The reasonableness of fear experienced by many women was evidenced in the findings
of Ford and Regoli’s study in which 27% of offenders arrested on victim complaints
reassaulted the victim prior to trial (Ford & Regoli, 1998). Women often experience
threats or actual retaliation from the offender when they reach out to the court.”
STUDENT’S STATEMENT ACKNOWLEDGING AN UNDERSTANDING OF
PLAGIARISM AND THE CONSEQUENCES THEREOF
This is to state that I have read all the documentation about plagiarism that I have
received.
I also fully understand what plagiarism is.
I also accept that if I commit plagiarism, I will be severely penalized.
NAME: GIYANE
SURNAME: MATOASE
STUDENT NO.: 67709982
MODULE: SJD1501-20-S2-85T
DATE: 2020/10/05