Violence Against Women
Source: News24
Johannesburg - South Africa is certain to come out as "one of the leaders" in a soon-to-be-released study on violence between intimate partners, a researcher said on Monday.
Naeemah Abrahams, a senior researcher at the Medical Research Council's gender and health unit, told SAfm that the rate of female homicides in South Africa was five times higher than the global rate.
"We are certainly five times the global rate on female homicides overall," she said quoting from a study containing data collected between 1999 and 2009.
"On intimate partners' violence.. a global study is going to come out very soon; within the next couple of months... and South Africa is going to be one of the leaders.
"You don't want to be a leader amongst these things, but certainly, we will be," said Abrahams.
Female homicides in South Africa were usually very aggressive murders, she added. Violence against women occurred across all income groups.
"It is more common amongst poor populations but it's not exclusively among poor populations."
Men who committed violence against women probably grew up in households where the same happened, she said.