Cape Town - How effective has the now 20-year-old Domestic Violence Act (DVA) been in terms of providing justice to victims?
This is the question under discussion at an inter-sectoral dialogue hosted by UCT’s Gender, Health and Justice Research Unit, the Heinrich Böll Foundation, Wits City Institute and the Department of Community Safety in the Western Cape.
Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development John Jeffery said that at the time when the DVA, now under review, was implemented, it was considered a very progressive piece of legislation that strongly focused on victims.
Jeffery said: “Victims of domestic violence often suffer from fear and anxiety, post traumatic stress disorder, low self-esteem and unworthiness. These are the feelings they carry to the criminal justice system when they seek help.”
Jeffery said secondary victimisation stemming from certain systematic dysfunctionalities also contributed to the early exit of victims from the system, which results in a clogged system of pending applications for interim protection orders. This was a serious challenge that would be considered when reviewing the DVA.
Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development John Jeffery
Professor at UCT and Director of Gender Health and Justice research unit Lillian Artz said: “The court process has been seen to improve over the past 20 years and the magistrates are making good decisions on behalf of the applicants who apply for
protection orders. However, concerns still remain about the process that occurs before the court process.”
Artz said that the initial process of reporting an incident to first respondents remained a problem because there were certain issues preventing a
victim from reporting a case effectively.
People who experienced domestic violence could either go to a magistrate’s court or to the police station, but when reporting an incident but there was still a tendency for police to refer victims of domestic violence to the court instead because they may not consider it as a high risk situation.
“The DVA says little about the role of first respondents such as the police. There is nothing mandatory in the Act in terms of the duties (of) first respondents.
“We are hoping that the voices of different sectors and respondents will be heard as they are currently not part of the law reform process,” said Artz.
Jeffery said the process of reviewing the DVA 20 years after it was formed had begun.
The South African Law Reform Commission will lead the investigation, working with experts in the domestic violence sector. The investigation is expected to commence next month.