Chapter 5: Gender-based Violence and Gender Impacts in Tourism

The term gender-based violence is an umbrella term for any harmful act that is perpetrated against a person's will, and that is based on socially ascribed (gender) difference between males and females. The term SGBV (sexual and gender-based violence) is also used to define these acts of violence. Gender-based violence has reached undeniably alarming levels in South Africa. It is unacceptable that women feel they have to watch what they wear in public and be careful about where they are seen socializing for the fear that they may face violent reprisals including rape or even death. In industries such as hospitality and tourism, women are in large numbers but they suffer a lot of victimization. Tourism and hospitality industry is the most common for women and some make a lot of income through selling self-made products. The time for sloganeering and politicking has passed. The government must now translate into action his vow that ‘enough is enough’. It's nothing short of a national emergency that femicide and rape rates are increasing countrywide, and the government must act decisively to tackle these issues. It is with deep concern that most of these criminal activities are committed by the people who are supposed to protect us because of their way society sees because of masculinity. Some of the reported crimes regarding gender-based violence are committed in homes by people who are very close to the victims and the elders would discourage the reporting of the incidents with the fear of defamation of the offenders. As long as there are such reactions to this barbaric act, we are going nowhere in terms of combating this type of criminal act. The hostile attribution bias that has afforded protection in an abusive environment becomes a liability when forming relationships with those outside the family system. In addition, peer and social dating relationships among maltreated youth are more likely to be accompanied by poor interpersonal adjustment (e.g., fear, mistrust and hostility) and limited personal resources (e.g., poor problem solving, lower self-efficacy and distorted beliefs about relationships), which further tax their ability to form healthy, nonviolent relationships. Women and children are ill-treated in various industries and they keep silent until the act of sexual abuse becomes violent and leads to homicide. Some victims show signs of behavioural change and tend to withdraw. In schools, students have resorted to commit suicide because of fear of stigmatization and failure by the justice system. Abused and neglected victims, as well as those who witness violence in their homes, often live in a world of emotional turmoil and extremes, resulting in difficulty recognizing and regulating their internal states.