Understanding the historical, social and cultural drivers behind GBV

SA continues to experience extremely high levels of gender-based violence (GBV), particularly rape and femicide.

These crimes occur disproportionately in historically marginalised black African townships.

Shaped by apartheid-era spatial planning, these communities remain characterised by overcrowding, substandard housing, persistent poverty, and long-standing exclusion from essential services.

In such contexts, GBV must also be understood as a symptom of social development failure — the avoidable obstruction of people’s ability to meet their basic human needs.

While rape and femicide are never justifiable, and recognising structural drivers does not excuse perpetrators, understanding the broader social context in which these crimes occur is critical.

Persistent poverty and unemployment, coupled with weak social services and sustained exposure to violence, continue to reinforce conditions in which GBV persists.

Against this backdrop, my National Research Foundation (NRF)-funded study drew on key informant interviews and the voices of marginalised African men who have committed GBV, including rape and femicide.

The study sought to understand how such extreme violence emerges within marginalised township contexts.

The findings suggest that perpetrators are not simply isolated individuals but products of structurally violent environments characterised by multiple, intersecting social development failures.

Persistent poverty and the absence of sustainable livelihoods emerged as central to understanding violence.

Many participants grew up in conditions of extreme deprivation that often continued into adulthood.

Chronic unemployment undermined their sense of dignity and masculine identity, producing frustration, anger, and hopelessness.

Within this context, violence sometimes became a distorted means of asserting power and control where legitimate pathways to social recognition were absent.

For some, substance abuse became a coping mechanism, further lowering inhibitions and increasing the likelihood of violent behaviour.

A striking theme across participants’ narratives was deep and unresolved anger.

Participants’ narratives showed how early emotional wounds linked to paternal absence shaped intimate relationships, emotional regulation, and, in some cases, violent behaviour.

Many described carrying intense anger from childhood into adulthood, shaped by harsh living conditions, unstable family environments, and the sense of growing up in spaces defined by deprivation while others appeared to live better lives.

Some participants were raised by extended family members and reported experiences of neglect or ill-treatment.

Without healthy outlets to process these emotions, anger accumulated over time.

Several participants reflected that it was only during their incarceration that they became aware of the depth of their anger and began a journey of personal reflection and healing.

A recurring theme in the study was widespread father absence, paternal rejection, and family instability.

Many participants grew up without their biological fathers, often in female-headed households shaped by poverty and substance abuse.

These disrupted family systems contributed to emotional neglect, unresolved anger, and the development of harmful masculinities.

Father absence emerged as a source of deep pain and anger that many carried into adulthood.

Participants’ narratives showed how early emotional wounds linked to paternal absence shaped intimate relationships, emotional regulation, and, in some cases, violent behaviour.

Participants also described childhoods saturated with violence, death, and fear.

Witnessing murders, losing family members due to involvement in criminal activities, and growing up in environments where bodies in the street were not unusual produced profound psychological trauma.

Yet this trauma was rarely addressed due to limited access to mental health services and social support.

Township environments were frequently described as spaces where violence is normalised.

Crime, gang activity, substance abuse, and death form part of everyday social reality.

Children grow up observing violence as a routine way of resolving conflict and asserting identity.

Continuous exposure to such environments can desensitise people to human suffering and normalise violent responses to interpersonal conflict.

Witnessing murders, losing family members due to involvement in criminal activities, and growing up in environments where bodies in the street were not unusual produced profound psychological trauma.

The study also revealed the failure of key social institutions to protect or redirect vulnerable youth.

Early school dropout, substance abuse, and repeated incarceration were common experiences among participants.

Instead of encountering early social development interventions, many first interacted with the state through the criminal justice system.

This institutional failure reinforced cycles of exclusion, criminalisation, and violence rather than prevention and rehabilitation.

Incarceration itself also emerged as a normalised feature of participants’ lives.

Many grew up in households where brothers, uncles, or other male relatives were frequently in and out of prison.

Exposure to crime and imprisonment from an early age meant that incarceration became an almost expected life trajectory.

Several participants reported having themselves moved in and out of prison for various offences before committing the crimes that eventually led to longer sentences.

Equally important was the early socialisation into harmful gender norms.

Several participants described growing up in environments where women were routinely devalued and violence against them was normalised.

Expressions such as “umfazi uyatshaywa” (a woman is meant to be beaten) reflected deeply embedded patriarchal beliefs that legitimised male dominance and control over women’s bodies and lives.

Within such contexts, gender-based violence was not seen as abnormal but as part of everyday socialisation.

These findings suggest that relying solely on punitive responses such as policing, military deployments, and incarceration is unlikely to address the root causes of GBV.

When violence becomes institutionalised and embodied within communities, arresting people without transforming the broader social ecology allows cycles of rape and femicide to continue.

Recognising the structural drivers of violence does not absolve perpetrators of responsibility.

However, it does highlight the importance of addressing the underlying social development failures that shape violent outcomes.

Poverty, trauma, disrupted family systems, violent socialisation, and weakened institutions create conditions in which extreme violence becomes more likely.

Addressing these structural conditions is essential if SA is to move beyond reactive responses.

Understanding GBV as a social development issue therefore allows for a more holistic, people-centred, and preventative response.

Addressing gender-based violence in SA requires not only stronger criminal justice responses, but also sustained investment in social development, family support systems, mental health services, education, and community-level interventions that can transform the environments in which violence takes root.