Page 25 - SAMRC Strategic Plan

PART B: SAMRC STRATEGIC FOCUS
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PILLARS OUTCOME
Pillar 1: Accountability, Holding all sectors of the society, including government, the private sector, workplace,
Coordination and education and training institutions, civil society organisations, religious and cultural
Leadership institutions, accountable for building a safe and GBVF free environment
Pillar 2: Prevention South Africa to make considerable progress in rebuilding social cohesion in ways where
and Rebuilding Social GBVF and violence more broadly is deemed unacceptable
Cohesion
Pillar 3: Justice, Safety and The criminal justice system to provide protection, compassion, respect, support, safety and
Protection justice for survivors of GBV and femicide and effectively holds perpetrators accountable for
their actions

Pillar 4: Response, Care, Victim-centred and survivor-focused accessible, equitable and quality services are readily
Support and Healing available across the criminal justice system, health system, educational system and social
support system at respective levels OR Improved and expanded response, care and support
services to all women, children and LGBTQIA+ persons who experience gender-based
violence that is standardised, meets their specific needs and contributes towards their healing
Pillar 5: Economic Power Women, children and LGBTQIA+ persons are able to be free in public spaces, use transport
freely and access resources that enable them to make healthy choices in their lives
Pillar 6: Research and Multi-disciplinary, research and integrated information systems that are nationally
Information Management coordinated and decentralised increasingly shapes a strengthened response to GBVF in
South Africa

In line with the National Strategic Plan on GBVF, the Natal and in Stellenbosch in the Cape Winelands in
research study led by Prof Rachel Jewkes and other the Western Cape.
researchers from the SAMRC, and in partnership
with Project Empower and the Universities of the This research is funded by the Wellcome Trust and
Witwatersrand and KwaZulu-Natal on the impact of seeks to answer the following three key questions:
severe intimate partner violence (IPV) on the health (i) What are the risk factors for, and pathways to,
and well-being of affected women and their children, life threatening experiences of severe IPV and
has a potential to inform policies and practices under Intimate Partner Femicide (IPF)? How do women
the NDOH and other government departments. who are killed, or nearly killed, differ from other
women experiencing severe IPV?
This research aims to build knowledge of risk factors (ii) What happens after women seek help for IPV and
for intimate partner femicide and how systems to what extent does the help available protect
established to assist women facing severe IPV them? If so, through which pathways?
operate, what it costs women to seek help and leave (iii) What are the pathways to intergenerational
abusive partners, what women need when faced with cycling of violence?
severe IPV and what helps them, and to discover how
IPV impacts children and how that otherwise faced 10.4.1.2. National Health Research Committee
by future generations, might be prevented. The National Department of Health established
the National Health Research Committee (NHRC)
The research seeks to bring together the disciplines in terms of section 69(1) of the National Health Act,
of public health research on Gender Based 2003 (Act 61 of 2003). The functions and powers
Violence (GBV), mental health, art and play-based of the NHRC, as stated in the Act include the
research and therapy, health economics and social determination of health research to be carried out
work in a vibrant programme of research that will by the public health authorities, to ensure that health
be conducted from four sites in Modimolle the research agendas and research resources focus on
Waterberg District of Limpopo, Tshwane Metropole priority health problems; to develop and advise the
in Gauteng, Chatsworth, eThekwini in KwaZulu- Minister on the application and implementation of

24 SAMRC STRATEGIC PLAN 2025/26 – 2029/30