South Africa: Addressing domestic violence: Reflections on strategy and practice

This paper is a critical examination of strategies and policies implemented by the South African government to end violence against women in South Africa. The paper aims to draw some tentative conclusions about strategies and good practices in relation to reforming legislation addressing violence against women. The paper starts with a brief history of the South African domestic violence act. The paper then describes some of the key innovations of the Domestic Violence Act (DVA), before examining how some of the Act's provisions have been implemented. It also examines which women have been most likely to benefit from the DVA.