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Violence Against Women and the Quest for a Sustainable Solution in Africa: Reflections on Rediscovery of the Due Diligence Standard

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Democratic Governance, Law, and Development in Africa

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Abstract

My purpose in this chapter is to shed light on the standard of diligence that can be a remedy to curb violence against women. For the past years, there have been ongoing debates and works suggesting how to tackle this scourge at the global level. Yet most of these initiatives that include among others, legislation and drastic penalties remain inefficient; initiatives generally designed to be implemented after the perpetration of the offence. My key argument is that very few initiatives actually contain a preventative character and are instead of a “curative” nature. This can be addressed through the implementation of the standard of due diligence that laid out the responsibility of states to investigate allegations of human rights violations.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women Proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 48/104 of 20 December 1993.

  2. 2.

    World Health Organization. (2005). Multi-country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence Against Women: Summary Report of Initial Results on Prevalence, Health Outcomes and Women’s Responses. 5. WHO: Geneva.

  3. 3.

    Factsheet: South Africa’s Crime Statistics for 2016/17. Available at https://africacheck.org/factsheets/south-africas-crime-statistics-201617/ (accessed 30 November 2020).

  4. 4.

    Ibid.

  5. 5.

    Inter-American Court of Human Rights Case of Velásquez-Rodríguez v. Honduras Judgment of July 29, 1988 (Merits). Available at https://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/casos/articulos/seriec_04_ing.pdf (accessed 1 November 2020).

  6. 6.

    Kamdem Kamga, G.E. Gender-Based Violence in South Africa: Is the Enemy (Always) Within? Available at https://www.justgender.org/gender-based-violence-in-south-africa-is-the-enemy-always-within/ (accessed 3 August 2021).

  7. 7.

    Burnsa, T., and Stöhr, C. (2011). The Architecture and Transformation of Governance Systems: Power, Knowledge, and Conflict. Human Systems Management 30, 173–194.

  8. 8.

    Ibid., 173.

  9. 9.

    Ibid., 176.

  10. 10.

    Ibid., 180.

  11. 11.

    Ibid., 180.

  12. 12.

    Ibid., 180.

  13. 13.

    Ibid., 180.

  14. 14.

    Further elucidation on these will be provided in the upcoming sections.

  15. 15.

    Ibid., 181.

  16. 16.

    Ibid., 181.

  17. 17.

    For further details, see Violence Against Women. Available at https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-women (accessed 9 May 2021).

  18. 18.

    Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa. Available at https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/WG/ProtocolontheRightsofWomen.pdf.

  19. 19.

    GE Kamdem Kamga Insights into Intimate Partner Violence, the Most Common Form of Gender Based Violence. Available at https://www.justgender.org/insights-into-intimate-partner-violence-the-most-common-form-of-gender-based-violence/ (accessed 3 August 2021).

  20. 20.

    Section 6 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

  21. 21.

    Section 2 of the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women.

  22. 22.

    Watts, C., and Zimmerman, C. (2002). Violence Against Women: Global Scope and Magnitude. The Lancet 359(9313), 1233.

  23. 23.

    Within the context of South Africa for instance, section 10 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996 protects human dignity, section 11 frames the right to life whereas section 12 guarantees freedom and security of persons.

  24. 24.

    See generally, George, J., and Stith, S. M. (2014). An Updated Feminist View of Intimate Partner Violence. Family Process 53(2); McPhail, B.A. (2007). An Integrative Feminist Model: The Evolving Feminist Perspective on Intimate Partner Violence. Violence Against Women 13(8); Walters. Dekeseredy Understanding the Complexities of Feminist Perspectives on Woman Abuse: A Commentary on Donald G. Dutton’s Rethinking Domestic Violence. Available at http://www.ncdsv.org/images/UNderstanding%20the%20Complexities%20of%20Feminist%20Perspectives.pdf (accessed 20 November 2020).

  25. 25.

    Ibid.

  26. 26.

    The Unpaid Care Work and the Labour Market. An analysis of time use data based on the latest World Compilation of Time-use Surveys/Jacques Charmes; International Labour Office. ILO, 2019.

  27. 27.

    Kamdem Kamga, G.E. Insights into Intimate Partner Violence, the Most Common Form of Gender Based Violence. Available at https://www.justgender.org/insights-into-intimate-partner-violence-the-most-common-form-of-gender-based-violence/ (accessed 3 August 2021).

  28. 28.

    The Unpaid Care Work and the Labour Market. An analysis of time use data based on the latest World Compilation of Time-use Surveys/Jacques Charmes; International Labour Office. ILO, 2019.

  29. 29.

    Unequal, Unfair, Ineffective and Inefficient Gender Inequity in Health: Why It Exists and How We Can Change It Final Report to the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health. Available at https://www.who.int/social_determinants/resources/csdh_media/wgekn_final_report_07.pdf (accessed 3 August 2021).

  30. 30.

    Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics and Violence Against Women of Color. Stanford Law Review 43(6), 1245–1246.

  31. 31.

    Available at https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/01/24/you-will-get-nothing/violations-property-and-inheritance-rights-widows-zimbabwe (accessed 15 November 2020).

  32. 32.

    See Liu, Jianghong. Early Health Risk Factors for Violence: Conceptualization, Review of the Evidence, and Implications. Available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3052794/pdf/nihms260267.pdf (accessed 3 August 2021).

  33. 33.

    Pingley, T. The Impact of Witnessing Domestic Violence on Children: A Systematic Review. Available at https://sophia.stkate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1779&context=msw_papers (accessed 19 November 2020).

  34. 34.

    Kamdem Kamga, G.E. Can Women’s Rights Abuse Be Explained by the Perceived Tension Between Constitutional Provisions and Customary Law? Available at https://www.justgender.org/can-womens-rights-abuse-be-explained-by-the-perceived-tension-between-constitutional-provisions-and-customary-law/ (accessed 2 August 2021).

  35. 35.

    Available at https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/01/24/you-will-get-nothing/violations-property-and-inheritance-rights-widows-zimbabwe (accessed 15 November 2020).

  36. 36.

    World Health Organization. (2010). Preventing Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Against Women Taking Action and Generating Evidence. 53, WHO: Geneva.

  37. 37.

    Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, The Due Diligence Standard as a Tool for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, ¶ 35, U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/2006/61 (2006).

  38. 38.

    Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, General Recommendation 19 (11th session, 1992). Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, art. 4(c), U.N. Doc. A/RES/48/104 (December 20, 1993).

  39. 39.

    Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, General Recommendation 19 (11th session, 1992).

  40. 40.

    Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, art. 4(c), U.N. Doc. A/RES/48/104 (December 20, 1993).

  41. 41.

    Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, UN Doc. A/HRC/23/49 (2013) para. 14.

  42. 42.

    UN Secretary-General, In-Depth Study on All Forms of Violence against Women, UN Doc. A/61/122/Add. 1 (6 July 2006), 257.

  43. 43.

    Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, The Due Diligence Standard as a Tool for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, ¶ 35, U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/2006/61 (2006).

  44. 44.

    Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, The Due Diligence Standard as a Tool for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, ¶ 36, U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/2006/61 (2006).

  45. 45.

    Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, its Causes and Consequences, ¶ 53, U.N. Doc. A/66/215 (August 1, 2011) (prepared by Rashida Manjoo).

  46. 46.

    Such article requires states to develop penal, civil, labour and administrative sanctions in domestic legislation to punish and redress the wrongs caused to women who are subjected to violence. Such women should be provided with access to the mechanisms of justice and, as provided for by national legislation, to just and effective remedies for the harm that they have suffered; states should also inform women of their rights in seeking redress through such mechanisms.

  47. 47.

    Integration of the Human Rights of Women and the Gender Perspective: Violence Against Women: Violence against women in the family, supra note 5, ¶ 25.

  48. 48.

    Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, its Causes and Consequences, supra note 6, ¶ 63.

  49. 49.

    Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, its Causes and Consequences, supra note 6, ¶ 71.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Free State Centre for Human Rights, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa

    Gerard Emmanuel Kamdem Kamga

  2. Research and Postgraduate Studies, Faculty of Law, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa

    Gerard Emmanuel Kamdem Kamga

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  1. Kumasi, Ghana

    Maame Efua Addadzi-Koom

  2. Sunyani, Ghana

    Michael Addaney

  3. Kumasi, Ghana

    Lydia A. Nkansah

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Kamdem Kamga, G.E. (2022). Violence Against Women and the Quest for a Sustainable Solution in Africa: Reflections on Rediscovery of the Due Diligence Standard. In: Addadzi-Koom, M.E., Addaney, M., Nkansah, L.A. (eds) Democratic Governance, Law, and Development in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-15397-6_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-15397-6_20

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