Joint Submission on COVID-19 and the Increase of Domestic Violence Against Women

Sonke Gender Justice, The Foundation for Human Rights (FHR) and Mosaic Training Service and Healing Centre would like to thank the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Ms. Dubravka Šimonović, for the opportunity to submit inputs on the increase of gender-based violence against women and domestic violence in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This submission will focus on setting out the available interventions by the South African government on gender-based violence and domestic violence during the COVID-19 period. Where possible, the submission will highlight any deviations from policies in place with anecdotal evidence.

The submission is divided into sections according to a contextual background of COVID-19 in South Africa and addresses questions posed by the Special Rapporteur in turn.