Gender-based violence (GBV) should be viewed as a human rights issue by South African companies, who have a vital role to play in eradicating the terrible scourge that is currently gripping our country. Given that businesses operate within society and form a part of the social fabric, companies are far from immune to the social ills that plague our country and should therefore play a strategic role in seeking a solution to these problems.
According to Bridgette Mdangayi and Khanyisa Nomoyi, from the National Business Initiative; “Solutions require a multi-stakeholder approach. Due to the fact that business often sets the tone for what is accepted in society, it has a responsibility to declare a ‘zero tolerance’ approach for GBV in all its forms. There is no easy way to eradicate GBV, but it is important to strengthen existing interventions.”
The 2014 KPMG study ‘Too costly to ignore – the economic impact of gender-based violence in South Africa’ has been widely quoted in the media for highlighting that GBV costs the country more than R28 billion a year, which amounts to 1% of GDP. However, the cost of GBV is far greater than any number can suggest. Survivors of GBV are vulnerable in a number of ways – financially insecure, more likely to be absent from work, and often unable to achieve upward professional mobility – which means there is numerous direct, personal costs to GBV that are seldom recognized.
Guest on the line:Khanyisa Nomoyi, from the National Business Initiative;