“Measure What Matters”: The Challenges Brought by Non-Categorisation of Gender-Based Violence and Femicide as a Crime at Higher Education Institutions, South Africa

Abstract

Crime in South Africa is categorised in a way that no two crimes can carry the same meaning. Hence, the crime of theft does not relate to the crime of house robbery. Gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF), is a very serious crime that is not categorised as a crime on its own, but is a crime which is identified through other crimes. This paper investigates the impact of the lack of categorisation of GBVF as a crime. The reviewed literature outlined a sense of confusion by the higher education institutions (HEIs) when addressing this crime. There is a sense of misunderstanding on which crimes constitute to be identified as GBVF, since GBVF is not categorised as a crime in the South African Police Service (SAPS) statistics. The reviewed literature outlined that GBVF has developed, and evolved overtime and it now has many terms that associate with it, these terms can range from domestic violence, intimate partner violence (IPV), violence against women (VAW), and attacks on the lesbians gays bisexuals transgender queer questioning and intersex community (LGBTQI). From the findings and recommendations, HEIs can be able to better respond to cases of GBVF on campus.