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Vulnerable to violence:
The case of young women
Research on abuse usually focuses on adults or children, with little attention on young women between the ages of 12 and 25. This group is particularly vulnerable to violence, perpetrated largely by people they know and trust. Few ever talk about the abuse, which means curative interventions or criminal justice solutions will not reach most survivors. To protect young women and girls, prevention programmes must be supported.
Young women are vulnerable not only because they are women, but also because of their age. Compared to older women, girls and young women are much less mobile and financially independent and are less able to escape abusive situations. These factors become real obstacles when considering that most of their abusers are people they trust.
The 12 to 25 age group is also characterised by uncertainty. This is an age when peer pressure, wanting to be popular and other insecurities associated with adolescence coincide. These factors increase the vulnerability of young women to violence and to its consequences.
Scope of the problem
According to a Medical Research Council (MRC) study on relationship dynamics and adolescent pregnancy in South Africa, young women are subject to assault (ranging from slapping to beatings with objects and stabbing) and sexual coercion (on a spectrum from begging to gang rape) by partners and others.
The figures on rape reported to the police (and to district surgeons) as well as survey results indicate that young women constitute a large percentage of survivors. UNISA’s Institute for Social and Health Sciences studied rape cases reported to district surgeons between 1996 and 1998 in Johannesburg. Results show that 51% of these women were between the ages of 15 and 25.
According to an ISS study in metropolitan South Africa (see Volume 3 Numbers 3 & 4) 33% of women interviewed were under the age of 20 when the worst incident of sexual abuse occurred. When emotional and sexual abuse was combined, 42% of women indicated that the worst incident occurred prior to the age of 20, making this the age at which emotional/sexual abuse was most likely to occur (Figure 1).
Figure 1 Victim's age when the most serious incident of abuse was committed
The MRC study indicated that most (three quarters) of the 544 participants said they were not willing to have sex at the time of their first sexual encounter. Teenage girls were most likely to have been persuaded to have sex, although a substantial number said they were forced or raped. This was much more common among pregnant teenagers (Figure 2).
Figure 2 Adolescents whose first experience of sex was coercive, according to whether they were pregnant or not
Sexual violence and AIDS
An added issue that confronts young women is their susceptibility to AIDS. This is closely linked to their vulnerability to sexual coercion. Research by UNAIDS has shown that young women are more prone to being infected by HIV from older men and that this often occurs during their first sexual encounter. Since young women are also most vulnerable to sexual coercion, these figures are not surprising.
In Africa it is estimated that teenagers in high prevalence areas between the ages of 15 and 19 years had HIV rates of 12% to 23% — four to six times higher than boys in the same age bracket, who had a rate of 3% to 4%. A study conducted in ante-natal clinics in
South Africa confirms that young women constitute a large percentage of those with HIV infection in pregnant women.
Profile of perpetrators
The problem is made more difficult to solve because younger women are more likely than older women to be raped by someone known to them. According to the UNISA study, 57% of girls aged between 1 and 12 years knew the perpetrator. For older girls — between 13 and 19 years — 54% knew the perpetrator (Figure 3).
Figure 3 Perpetrator's relationship to the victim in the case of rape
Over the past few months, media attention in South Africa has focused on the rape of young women and girls. Most of these rapes were perpetrated by someone the survivor knew and trusted, such as a father, uncle or teacher. A member of the South African Police Service’s Dube (Soweto) child protection unit indicated that 60% of violence cases handled by the unit are directed at girls under the age of 12 and that in 90% of cases the perpetrator was a relative or friend (The Star, 3/11/99).
This challenges the notion that rape is something committed in dark alleys by strangers who are ‘sick’ people. Perpetrators are often part of a young woman’s everyday environment. They are people that young women trust and rely on.
Legislation and prevention
South African legislation now recognises violence against women as a major problem. The Domestic Violence Act provides for more appropriate responses by the police and the courts (see Volume 3 Number 5). The proposed Sexual Offences Bill deals with coercive sex. Because these crimes affect young women most, it should offer protection and recourse to survivors.
The Child Care legislation will cover children who are abused, including girls below the age of 16 years.
Until new legislation and departmental guidelines are finalised, it will be difficult to assess their impact for girls and young women.
Attention to legislation is welcomed. But much less activity focuses on how violence against young women can be prevented.
Women tend not to talk about their experiences of violence for some time after the incident — if at all (Figure 4). Given their youth and the fact that perpetrators are usually people they know, young women are less likely to report the incident than are older women. Curative interventions or criminal justice solutions will therefore reach only a few young survivors. The abuse must be prevented from occurring in the first place.
Figure 4 Time women took to tell someone about abuse
Programmes aimed at children are needed that challenge traditional gender norms. This is necessary to achieve a non-violent society where attitudes towards women suggest equality rather than reinforcing their vulnerability. Once-off education campaigns have been tried but are not enough.
Long term programmes that are part of the school curriculum should address issues such as gender stereotyping and the culture of violence and should provide a forum for discussing sexual rights. Programmes should aim to change those attitudes in society that maintain violence against women. It is only through changing attitudes (and thus behaviour) that young women can be safe in their homes.
Shahana Rasool
Institute for Security Studies
Source documents
R Jewkes, C Vundule, F Maforah, E Jordaan, Relationship Dynamics and Adolescent Pregnancy in South Africa, Medical Research Council, 1999
L Machipisa, Health-Africa: Young Girls More Vulnerable to HIV Infection, http://women-snet.org.za/news/girlshiv.html
L Swart, A Gilchrest, A Butchart, M Seedat, L Martin, Rape Surveillance through District Surgeon Offices in Johannesburg, 1996-1998: Evaluation and Prevention Implications. An Institute for Social and Health Sciences Project Report, 1999.
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