That case went cold; nothing came of the matter. Things carried on like this year after year; I however attempted to get help from the police again. I went to get a [protection order] and they told me to leave. I moved in with my aunt, and then he would follow me there and assault me.
Courts in South Africa can issue protection orders – also known as restraining orders or interdicts – to safeguard survivors of gender-based violence from their abusers.
UN Women considers protection orders as among the most effective legal remedies for gender-based violence survivors. Perpetrators who violate a protection order should be arrested, as protection orders are legally enforceable throughout the country. But the majority – 88% – of the 77 survivors surveyed who reached the protection order stage reported facing numerous barriers.
The most common issue was the inability to access necessary information and support. Survivors reported that court officials provided no assistance with the protection order application, which was predominantly in English and thus unreadable to over half of respondents, despite South Africa having 11 constitutionally protected languages. When the time came for the court hearing, many survivors said they were not prepared, as they could not afford a lawyer, and no one had explained the process.
Even when protection orders were put in place, additional risks loomed. Some survivors reported being forced to serve their own protection orders on their abusers, and perpetrators who violated the order faced no consequences. Making matters worse, perpetrators sometimes retaliated by applying for orders of their own, which forced survivors to obtain legal services at their own expense. For many, this proved an insurmountable barrier.
So [we] got to court [for the protection order], there wasn't a lot of questions asked. They just asked my husband a few questions, and then they said that, fine, that I must come back the next day, and then I must come fetch the protection order, and I must serve it myself to him… I had to go to his house and give it to him myself.
Survivor from Atlantis
Nicky from Atlantis, who wished to be identified only by her first name, reported suffering years of abuse at the hands of her partner, who was also the father to her three children. She was reluctant to pursue a case because she was reliant on him for a place for her and her children to live.
Eventually, things got so bad that she had no other option but to seek a protection order. The police also transferred her case against her partner for rape and attempted murder to the court. But Nicky said the court dismissed the case when she did not appear for a hearing. She said no one kept her informed on where she needed to appear, or what was happening, and she ended up in the wrong location.
She did get a protection order in 2018, but no one took the time to explain to her what it meant or what her rights were, and her partner violated the order repeatedly.
“My partner had so many transgressions against me, and when you contact the police, they do not come out immediately… I was always in fear, because he followed me to my place of work, he followed me to our children’s school. It was really a dark period in my life.”
Nicky now wants to share her experiences to help others.
“I want to make a difference in someone else’s life so that I can relieve some of their pain, purely out of my experience and witnessing what was done to me. And whatever happens, I truly hope that the crime in Atlantis and gender-based violence will be reduced. This is only possible if the police begin to tackle challenges seriously and not treat the victims as if they are the criminals, because we are in need of help.”