Considering only 37% of intimate partner female homicides in South Africa lead to conviction, Oscar Pistorius facing sentencing today is in the minority of killers of women in SA.
A 2004 MRC study showed the average sentence for perpetrators of intimate partner femicide was 10.7 years. Since Pistorius was only found guilty of culpable homicide, his sentence is likely to be shorter.
There was a huge decrease in gun related homicides of women in South Africa between 1999 & 2009, likely due largely to gun control legislation. The Medical Research Council (MRC) found that 529 fewer women were killed by guns in SA in 2009 versus in 1999. Intimate partner femicide went from four per day to three per day. The MRC studies were respectively called Every Six Hours & Every Eight Hours.
