The Impact of Violence on Youth in

South Africa Hilton Donson, Anesh Sukhai, Kopano

Ratele, Ashley van Niekerk, Luanne Swart, Mohamed Seedat

MRC-UNISA Safety & Peace Promotion Research Unit

NIMSS 2007

The problem• Violence and injuries are the second leading cause of death and lost disability-adjusted life

years in South Africa.

• South Africa’s injury death rate is nearly twice the global average.

• The high injury death rate is driven mainly by interpersonal and gender-based violence, followed by traffic c injuries, self-inflicted injuries, and other unintentional injuries arising from fires, drowning, and falls.

• Violence is profoundly gendered, with young men (aged 15–29 years) disproportionately engaged in

• violence both as victims and perpetrators.

• Half the female victims of homicide are killed by their intimate male partners and the country has an especially high rate of rape of women and girls.

• The social factors driving the problem include poverty and unemployment, patriarchal notions of masculinity, vulnerabilities of families and exposure to violence in childhood, widespread access to firearms, alcohol and drug misuse, and a weak culture of enforcement and failure to uphold safety as a basic right.

• The government should identify reduction in violence and injuries as a key goal and to develop and implement a comprehensive,

Violence can be prevented

Violence is not inevitable. Like polio and other public health threats, violence can be prevented.

Violence is learned in the home

More than 3 million children witness physical and verbal domestic abuse in their homes each year (Horn, 2000; Carlson, 1984; Jaff, 1990).

Effects of witnessing domestic violence can include traumatic stress reflected in higher levels of depression and anxiety, attention and learning problems, and greater likelihood of developing aggressive and anti-social behavior (Hawley, 2000).

Violence is learned by being

victimized by intimates826,000 children in the United States were maltreated in 1999

(US DHHS).

Experiencing child abuse and neglect increases the likelihood of arrest as a juvenile by 53% and of committing a violent crime by 38% (Widom, 1992).

Violence is learned from peers

• • One in 7 school children is either a bully or has

• been the victim of a bully (Brooks, et al, 2000;

• Batsche G, et al, 1998).

• • Between 10% and 30% of teens experience

• violence while dating. This is not surprising in

• light of a survey of two Chicago high schools,

• in which 28% of boys responding believed that

• “girls needed to be punched or slapped sometimes”

• (American Medical Association Alliance, 1999).

Alcohol & drugs50% of youth homicide victims have elevated

blood alcohol, as do 50% of youth who commit

homicide (Adams et al, 1992; Prothrow-Stith et al,

1992; Mann et al, 1998).

Gangs

Youth gangs are responsible for a disproportionate

share of all criminal offenses, both violent and

nonviolent (Snyder et al, 2000).

Factors that “protect” youth

Relationship with a responsible adult

Positive school experiences

Plans and dreams (future orientation)

Ability to control impulses

(Search Institute, 2000)

National Injury Mortality Surveillance System

NIMSS was launched in 1999 to inform on the extent of deaths due to non-natural (n/n) causes

Goal is to establish a permanent system that will help Describe the incidence, causes, and consequences of n/n

deaths Prioritise injury and violence prevention actions Identify new injury trends and emerging problems Monitor longitudinal changes in the profile of n/n fatalities Evaluate possibilities of direct and indirect violence and injury

NIMSS is the most detailed source of information on the who, what, when, where and how of fatal injuries in South Africa

Overview of NIMSS

In 2007 - national coverage 21 mortuaries in 6 provinces, with full coverage in SA's four largest

metropolitan cities:

Cape Town, Durban(Ethekwini), Johannesburg, Pretoria(Tshwane)

33 486 Non-natural (n/n) deaths

about 55% of all n/n mortality

60 000 N/N deaths per annum

Apparent manner of death for all ages (n = 33520)

NIMSS 2007

NIMSS 2007

Apparent manner of death for children 0-14 (n = 2708)

NIMSS 2007

Apparent manner of death for youth aged 0-19 (n = 4727)

Apparent manner of death for ages 15-29 (n = 11271)

NIMSS 2007

Violent deaths by age (N = 11 304)

Youth violence (0-19) by external cause of death

(n= 1195)M:F ratio

Firearm 4.0Sharp force 11.4Blunt force 4.2Strangulation0.4

NIMSS 2007

External cause of fatal youth violence,

(n= 1195)

NIMSS 2007

Violence mortality rates: 2001-2007

NIMSS 2007

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007Age

sta

ndar

dise

d m

orta

lity

rate

per

10

0,00

0 po

pula

tion

Johannesburg Durban Cape Town Tshwane/Pretoria

Fatal youth violence by scene & sex

(n= 4596)

NIMSS 2007

Leading external causes of fatal violence for youth by Blood Alcohol

Concentration (BAC) (n=2430)

Leading external causes of fatal violence for youth by Blood Alcohol

Concentration (BAC) (n=2430)

NIMSS 2007

City comparisons: Leading external causes of fatal youth

violenceDurban (n=1205) Cape Town

(n=1436)Tshwane/Pret.

(n=178)

Johannesburg (n=761)

1 Firearm (51.1%) Sharp object

(51.3%)

Firearm

(48.3%)

Firearm

(62.7%)

2 Sharp object (37.6%)

Firearm

(37.3%)

Sharp object

(28.7%)

Sharp object

(21.9%)

3 Blunt object (8.9%)

Blunt object

(4.5%)

Blunt object

(15.7%)

Blunt object

(9.2%)

4 Strangulation

(0.8%)

Strangulation

(1.0%)

Strangulation

(3.4%)

Strangulation

(0.7%)

5 Other

(1.6%)

Other

(5.9%)

Other

(3.9%)

Other

(5.5%)

NIMSS 2007

MRC-UNISA Safety & Peace Promotion Research

Unit(SAPPRU)Objectives of SAPPRU

Conduct trans-disciplinary research to champion violence and injury prevention, as well as peace and

safety promotion;

Develop appropriate tools to assess the magnitude, trends and occurrence of crime, injuries and violence,

and conditions promotive of safety and peace;

Study the risks, causes and determinants of crime, violence and injuries, and factors supportive of safety

and peace;

Identify, support and develop primary prevention, injury control, and safety and peace promotion

demonstration and best practice initiatives;

Encourage research translation to inform the prevention and promotive work of governments and social

movements; and

Build primary prevention, and safety and peace promotion research and intervention expertise among

researchers, policy-drivers, community-based workers and practitioners.

Ukuphepha Stsudy

The Ukuphepha project is a multi country and multi level research study on child injury prevention and safety promotion. It is the first of its kind. This will work towards reducing injury rates among children. It will involve countries, Uganda, South Africa, Mozambique, Australia, Bangladesh and other.

 

Ukuphepha means "SAFETY" in indigenous South African lingual.

 

The Ukuphepha project is a multi country and multi level research study on child injury prevention and safety promotion. It is the first of its kind. This will work towards reducing injury rates among children. It will involve countries, Uganda, South Africa, Mozambique, Australia, Bangladesh and other.  Ukuphepha means "SAFETY" in indigenous South African lingual.. 

Ukuphepha Aims

Type Mortality/Morbidity

Key Distal Factors

Proximal Factors

SA Strategies Gaps

Service Delivery Priorities

Lead Dept

Child abuse * 1050 homicides to boys and 877 to

girls under the age of 14 (2007)

* SAPS 2009/2010:27 417 sexual offences against children under 18 years; increase of 36.1%

* Vulnerable groups include: premature infants, handicapped children

* Low level of family cohesion

* Poverty

* Communities with reducedsocial capital

* Inadequate housing and community spaces

* Job loss within family

* Substance abuse among family

* Families with large number of children

* Mother having children at young age

* Child care Act 1983

* Regulations relating to safety measures at schools

* Guidelines for the prevention and management of sexual violence and harassment In public schools

* No focus on regulations regarding reporting of child abuse Offences

* Major back log of child abuse cases among social workers

* Increase childcare Services

* Strengthen social service resources for child protection functions

* Availability of treatment and rehabilitation for addicts

* Reduce alcohol & drugaccessibility

* DOH

*DBE

* DSD

Acknowledgements Colleagues at MRC –UNISA SAPPRU

Staff and pathologists at participating mortuaries and Forensic Medicine departments.

National and Provincial Departments of Health State Forensic Chemistry Laboratories

South African Police Services

Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology

NIMSS 2007