Violence Against Women in South Africa – Constitutional Responses and Opportunities

Forthcoming in Rosalind Dixon and Theunis Roux (eds) Constitutional Triumphs, Constitutional Disappointments: A Critical Assessment of the 1996 South African Constitution’s Influence (CUP, 2017)

32 Pages Posted: 21 Nov 2016 Last revised: 23 Nov 2016

See all articles by Beth Goldblatt

Beth Goldblatt

University of Technology Sydney, Faculty of Law; University of California, Berkeley - Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law

Date Written: November 18, 2016

Abstract

Violence against women, present in every society in the world, is deeply embedded in South Africa’s past and is a central feature of the post-democratic society. The South African Constitution is path breaking in acknowledging this reality by providing a right to be free from violence in public and private realms. Over the past two decades since democracy, advocacy groups have been successful in lobbying and working with government to secure new legislation in the areas of domestic violence and rape. Implementation of these laws has, however, been mixed or poor and recourse to the law is limited for many, if not most, victims of this violence. A number of significant decisions have emerged from the Constitutional Court in relation to these laws and regarding aspects of the common law relevant to violence against women. This chapter surveys the jurisprudence on violence against women in assessing the Court’s record in this area. While finding these decisions valuable in advancing the constitutional framework, the chapter suggests that fuller interpretation of the Constitution and more creative litigation and jurisprudence is necessary in contributing to the removal of the scourge of violence against South Africa’s women.

Keywords: violence against women, South Africa, constitutional law

Suggested Citation

Goldblatt, Beth, Violence Against Women in South Africa – Constitutional Responses and Opportunities (November 18, 2016). Forthcoming in Rosalind Dixon and Theunis Roux (eds) Constitutional Triumphs, Constitutional Disappointments: A Critical Assessment of the 1996 South African Constitution’s Influence (CUP, 2017), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2872478

Beth Goldblatt (Contact Author)

University of Technology Sydney, Faculty of Law ( email )

Sydney
Australia

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.uts.edu.au/staff/beth.goldblatt

University of California, Berkeley - Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law ( email )

Boalt Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720-7200
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
199
Abstract Views
986
Rank
275,958
PlumX Metrics