Gender-based violence (GBV) has reached a level in South Africa where employers cannot afford to take a backseat in national efforts to curb the phenomenon. Workers affected by violence and sexual assault suffer daily challenges in fulfilling their duties and private sector employers which are in a position to be of help have a moral obligation to do so, says Bettabets, a South African gaming company.
With a number of stores operating within communities severely affected by GBV, Bettabets advocates that change needs to start from the inside-out. Staff and the communities in which businesses operate should be prioritised in catalysing change.âIt is time for companies to put their money where their mouth is when it comes to campaigning against GBV, says Smita Narsi, Head of CSI at Bettabets. âBusinesses are just as affected as other stakeholders by the climbing numbers of incidences of domestic violence, rape, femicide and other crimes for whom women are mostly the victims.âÂ
Workers are also victims and perpetrators
 Many women end up leaving their jobs, taking long bouts of leave and being rendered unable to be economically active because of the mental and physical effects of GBV. Reported incidences of violence and sexual assaults are also frequently found to have occurred in the workplace or in the line of duty.
 Despite a plethora of government-initiated white papers, blue papers, commissions, marches, slogans, task forces, special courts and legislative changes, tens of thousands of women continue to suffer at the hands of GBV.
 The problem has become even more glaring during the Covid-19 pandemic with South African Police Service (SAPS) reporting that it received 87,000 GBV complaints during the first weeks of our hard lockdown period. Last year, official crime statistics showed that 902 women were killed in South Africa in just three months. In the same period, 252 murders were as a result of domestic violence. Between October and December 2021, 11315 women were raped.
In the first quarter of 2022, incidences of rape reported to the SAPS increased by 36,4 % from 2018. This indicates a rate of 120 women are raped per day, while at least 5 women are raped every hour.
These figures suggest that governments strategy of combating GBV is not working, most likely because combating GBV is a mammoth task which requires the input and involvement of all those affected by it, including the private sector. âWe, as businesses, must come to terms with a very uncomfortable truth: not only do survivors of violence against women walk among us as employees, clients and consumers, so do assailants,â says Narsi
 Bettabets is committed to working towards combating GBV in the communities in which it operates. The company partners with community organisations that seek to find real solutions to the complex GBV problem. Working with NPO, Wise 4 Afrika, the company provides legal resources and assistance to all staff that are victims of GBV.
Through its partnership with the NPO, Father A Nation, Bettabets is providing training to all male staff aimed at conscientising them on how their behaviour can either harm or enrich the women and girls of their communities. Â âThe program is aimed at creating a better understanding of the role of men in society as potential champions of development, safety and unity in communities,â says Narsi.
What role can employers play in fighting GBV
âIt starts by providing safe spaces for the survivors among our staff to come forward, speak out, and open up about their ordeals,â says Narsi. âWe need to become the allies we purport to be in media campaigns in our daily work lives, so that the people behind our brands get the help they need.â
The massive efforts to perpetuate fact-based ideas around GBV has not been successful in all spheres of society, the company urges. Part of the task of businesses taking a more hands-on approach to GBV should include educating men, allowing them to discuss their concerns and making them part of the solution.
Narsi also suggests that survivors should be given resources including time to access services to rebuild their lives mentally, practically, medically, and legally â without fear of adverse repercussions at work.
 Women often donât seek help because it costs time, and they are afraid they will lose their jobs. Companies need to adopt policies which give workers who are survivors the support they need at work to address the violence in their lives, and to promote the health and safety of all employees.
 GBV canât be eradicated only by urging survivors to come forward. Though all companies presumably have procedures in place that allow for victims to report perpetrators of undesirable behaviours in the workplace, these should be developed further. Discouraging untoward behaviour between the sexes should extend beyond violence and into catcalling, harassment, degrading comments, sexual intimidation, and sexism as a whole.
