Durban - Greater efforts needed to be made to tackle alcohol abuse, especially among men, if South Africa was to succeed in combating violence against women.
This was a call made by Soul City, a non-profit organisation that advocates for women’s rights as the country begins its annual 16 days of activism against gender violence, which started this week.
The advocacy manager for PhuzaWize, Savera Kalideen, said alcohol played a role in almost half of domestic violence cases.
According to research by the Medical Research Council’s Professor Charles Parry, the unit head for alcohol and drug abuse research, one in four drinkers in South Africa consumes alcohol at hazardous levels at weekends.
Kalideen said that according to the MRC, 32.7 percent of the more than 2 million cases of crime reported in South Africa between April 2008 and March 2009 were “contact” crimes such as murder, attempted murder, rape and assault with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm.
An analysis of the April 1, 2012 to March 31, 2013 crime statistics by the Institute of Security Studies showed an increase in violent crimes.
“The institute reported that incidents of murder increased from 15 609 in 2011/12 to 16 259 murders in 2012/13. Consequently, South Africa’s murder rate increased from an average of 43 murders a day to 45 a day,” she said.
“It was noted that ‘most murders, assaults and rapes take place between people who know each other and live in the same neighbourhood’. These kinds of crimes are rarely premeditated and are often exacerbated by alcohol and other substance abuse,” Kalideen said.
Daily News