The Psychological Society of South Africa (PsySSA) is outraged at the recent killings of women in Ekurhuleni. Gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) cannot continue unabated. As we make sense of our collective grief, trauma and fear, an evidence-based approach is needed to end GBVF. As the country’s largest body of psychology professionals, PsySSA will be meeting in Ekurhuleni for its 30th annual congress from October 13-15. Hundreds of psychology practitioners, activists, academics, and students will gather for 3-days of intellectual deliberations.
Several sessions will support the national conversation on ending GBVF. Four panel discussions and about 20 individual papers will focus on masculinity, violence prevention, and survivor support, covering a diversity of perspectives and research methods. This article offers a brief snapshot of emerging topics.
Men and masculinities – in crisis?
Studies on men and masculinities feature prominently in the programme.
Shahieda Jansen, author of the book, Masculinity Meets Humanity: An Adapted Model of Masculinised Psychotherapy, urges us to reframe GBV prevention. She will draw on data from nine focus group discussions that included boys aged 10–18. She argues that instead of “correcting problematic masculinity” we must also address “relational deprivation and belonging deficits amongst men”. She also joins a panel that tackles the increasingly common refrain, “Are Boys and Young Men Being Left Behind?” Along with Kgamadi Kometsi, Luke Lamprecht, and Pierre Brouard they ask complex social questions, such as “Are boys and young men facing new forms of vulnerability that require attention? How do we engage in these questions without reinforcing backlash against gender equality? What role can psychology play in supporting boys' and young men's emotional development in ways which contribute to gender justice rather than undermine it?”
Masculinities are increasingly shaped by social media influencers. Angeline Stephens, chairperson of PsySSA’s Sexuality and Gender Division, will moderate a panel, “Inside The [South African] Manosphere” with prominent academics Nkululeko Nkomo, Peace Kiguwa, and Floretta Boonzaier. Additionally, Lamprecht, a child protection specialist, will unpack two real-world case studies of young boys drawn into a dangerous online manosphere. He argues that “restrictive masculinity norms, role confusion, and unmet emotional needs create the fertile ground that extremist online spaces deliberately exploit”. Lamprecht challenges schools, clinicians, and policymakers “to move from reactive responses to proactive structural change in how we raise and support boys.”
In a country as diverse as ours, the intersections of culture, race, class, and location intersect with masculinity. Several talks will explore these diversities, by focusing on Xhosa men; white Afrikaans men; coloured men in Durban; men in Tshwane; and men in Mpumalanga. For example, Boitumelo Louisa Kekana studied the relationship between toxic masculinity and historical trauma, such as colonialism and apartheid. Using interviews with 20 men living in Pretoria, Kekana will present a decolonial toolkit for psychologists to challenge Western models and incorporate Indigenous healing practices to reduce GBVF.
Of course, central to these works is the key question, ‘Can men change?’ Offering a philosophical (and optimistic) perspective, Thabolwethu Tema Maphosa investigated the lives of two political icons – Robert Sobukwe and Joshua Nkomo – to demonstrate that Black men do possess the agency to dismantle patriarchy. “My research presents a counter view to the notion of Black men as rigid objects in patriarchy's hold,” says Maphosa.
Centring survivors’ lived experiences
Survivor voices are central to psychological research.
Nomanzana Ntozini will present her study of Black African undergraduate women who experienced GBV at university. Ntonzini recommends “trauma-informed campus policies, accessible reporting mechanisms, and psychosocial support services that centre survivors' voices.” In a separate study, Atalia Shube conducted 16 focus group discussions with students and found that key safety risks included “ineffective security and access control, unsafe campus environments (e.g., poor lighting and overgrown areas), unregulated social events, misuse of campus social media platforms exposing the victims, late classes requiring long commutes, and barriers to reporting sexual harassment, alongside limited student support services.” James Moletsane interviewed 14 gender non-binary university students to “underscore the urgent need for campuses to adopt intersectional, affirming, and inclusive support systems for gender-diverse students.” All three studies make recommendations for improving campus safety.
Pierre Brouard will facilitate a discussion on LGBTQI survivors of conversion practices (CPs). CPs or so-called ‘reparative therapies’ are forced attempts to change or suppress sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression, and is a form of GBV. PsySSA recently partnered with Outright International to develop a practical toolkit for therapists working with survivors of CPs. Panellists include Chris McLachlan, Sakhile Msweli, and Suntosh Pillay.
Other speakers will present topics that are substantially under-theorised but important to the emerging evidence-base, i.e. emotional abuse as a component of GBV, transphobia as a form of GBV, how environmental degradation increases the risk of GBV, and the experiences of male survivors of GBV – a topic often clouded in controversy.
Rethinking anti-GBVF plans and tactics
As we work towards a safer society, the PsySSA Division for Trauma and Violence ask, pointedly, “Does GBV Activism Work?” Leonie Vorster, Lynne Richards, Itumeleng Magoai, and Nomgqibelo Mdlalose critically evaluate the efficacy and psychological costs of current activist models, especially the “NGO-isation of activism” and the so-called “dark side of activism”, i.e. the emotional labour experienced by people working in high-trauma social justice sectors, and the personal toll it takes on their own lives. Do we need new models for activism? If so, how do we get there?
Of course, if we are to fully understand GBV, we must speak to the men who commit it. Using data from men in prison, Themba Mavasa surveyed 60 GBV offenders in a local correctional facility. His findings revealed that psychological risk factors significantly predicted the likelihood of a man committing GBV, more so than biological and sociocultural factors. How might this affect our interventions and policy priorities?
GBV is partially a problem of human behaviour, and it is the responsibility of psychologists to help change problematic behaviours. However, GBVF cannot be reduced to behaviour alone. Psychological research and practice can contribute through prevention, research, policy, survivor support, and work with perpetrators, but this must co-exist within a nation-wide response involving policing, justice, health, education, social development and communities.
Clinical psychologist Indira Pillay calls for interventions “at a preventative level rather than adopting a reactive approach”. Indeed, the gold prize would be to prevent GBVF altogether, including intimate partner violence and domestic abuse. This requires ongoing multi-sector commitment. At its heart must be an evidence-based and science-informed strategy, drawing on the latest research from psychology and related disciplines.
Suntosh R. Pillay is a clinical psychologist and researcher based in Durban. He is chairperson of PsySSA’s Community and Social Psychology Division. The full congress programme can be viewed here.
The GBV Command Centre toll-free number is 0800 428 428.