Page 28 - SCAT GBV Report - Addressing Gender-Based Violence - 2021

Against this backdrop, many respondents speak of the unique position LDAs occupy in being able to engage with traditional and religious leaders and institutions. Because traditional councils and courts are run predominantly by men, they tend to uphold rigid gender roles that undermine women’s equality. Consequently, some LDAs advocate for traditional courts not to handle GBV cases at all and, instead, refer these matters to their organisation. Others advocate for incidents of GBV to be referred to the women who sit on traditional structures, as it is believed they are more likely to safeguard survivors’ rights and interests. No matter the tactic, this area of work requires intensive relationship-building, dialogue, negotiation and information-sharing with traditional and religious authorities.
You must firstly build a relationship with the traditional leaders and understand your objective – to stop GBV and to transform the traditional council system to have dignity for women.
Tembakazi Mthembu, PSJAC.
They [traditional leaders] need to understand when they adjudicate these matters, they need to have a clear understanding of the power relations between men and women.
Welekazi Stofile, NGO stakeholder.
We do consultation meetings with traditional leaders and introduce the GBV programme. There are structures of the wives of the traditional leaders, called ‘iya’ and led by women. We sat with them and sensitised them on GBV. Now, if there is a case of GBV, the traditional leaders refer the case to the wife, and she then takes the case to us.
Nomboniso Gaya, PSJAC.
There is much to be learned from LDAs on strategies for working with the traditional justice system to uphold gender and sexual rights and equality.21 Whilst LDAs appear to have made inroads in this arena, they adopt distinct approaches – some more conciliatory and accommodating, and others more challenging and confrontational.
We made them understand that they are not supposed to handle these cases in their traditional courts. It is our strategy now to win them over, and to open that path for them to discuss and dialogue with the issue. They were stubborn once, whereby you will find the men that say if a man beats his woman is not supposed to go to the police, not supposed to go outside. That’s the issue we had. But after the dialogue with them, they understand now the issue of GBV.
Nomboniso Gaya PSJAC.
Because they have a deep understanding of the dynamics of the community, they can use that to carefully tread on issues that paint these dynamics that perpetuate GBV. They do that through advocacy, through capacity enhancement – targeting the traditional and religious leaders but also the entire community – so that the community itself changes and supports the interventions that seek to promote gender equality. Welekazi Stofile, NGO stakeholder.
LDAs navigate the traditional justice system as they do the formal justice system, in order to strengthen the rights and needs of survivors. They have the know-how to work in and across these dual systems and to understand the roles, limitations and channels of accountability of each. This is important, because people in rural areas make different choices in respect of where they take their complaints.
21. By way of example, a three-year programme of Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre (TLAC) on transforming the traditional justice system to uphold the rights of women, was implemented in collaboration with some LDAs (Welekazi Stofile, NGO stakeholder).
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“Finish this Elephant”: Rural Community Organisations’ Strategic Approaches to Addressing GBV