“Democracy Stops at My Front Door”

Abstract

The introduction examines the context of gender-based violence in postapartheid South Africa. Democratization brought remarkable political gains for women electorally and legislatively, yet rates of gender-based violence continue unabated. Set within the backdrop of several high-profile cases of sexual assault and intimate-partner violence, this chapter argues that efforts to address gender-based violence have centered on legal responses, policy making, and carceral approaches. While policies and prosecutions are necessary, they are incomplete strategies for addressing interpersonal violence in the home, family, and community. The service providers, street-level bureaucrats, and community leaders in this study argue that gender-based violence is nested within interlocking systems of racism, sexism, and inequality.