부산대학교 도서관

Background: In most countries, reliable national statistics on femicide, intimate partner femicide (IPF), and non-intimate partner femicide (NIPF) are not available. Surveys are required to collect robust data on this most extreme consequence of intimate partner violence (IPV). We analysed 3 national surveys to compare femicide, IPF, and NIPF from 1999 to 2017 using age-standardised rates (ASRs) and incidence rate ratios (IRRs). Methods and findings: We conducted 3 national mortuary-based retrospective surveys using weighted cluster designs from proportionate random samples of medicolegal laboratories. We included females 14 years and older who were identified as having been murdered in South Africa in 1999 (n = 3,793), 2009 (n = 2,363), and 2017 (n = 2,407). Further information on the murdered cases were collected from crime dockets during interviews with police investigating officers. Our findings show that South Africa had an IPF rate of 4.9/100,000 female population in 2017. All forms of femicide among women 14 years and older declined from 1999 to 2017. For IPF, the ASR was 9.5/100,000 in 1999. Between 1999 and 2009, the decline for NIPF was greater than for IPF (IRR for NIPF 0.47 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.42 to 0.53) compared to IRR for IPF 0.69 (95% CI 0.63 to 0.77). Rates declined from 2009 to 2017 and did not differ by femicide type. The decline in IPF was initially larger for women aged 14 to 29, and after 2009, it was more pronounced for those aged 30 to 44 years. Study limitations include missing data from the police and having to use imputation to account for missing perpetrator data. Conclusions: In this study, we observed a reduction in femicide overall and different patterns of change in IPF compared to NIPF. The explanation for the reductions may be due to social and policy interventions aimed at reducing IPV overall, coupled with increased social and economic stability. Our study shows that gender-based violence is preventable even in high-prevalence settings, and evidence-based prevention efforts must be intensified globally. We also show the value of dedicated surveys in the absence of functional information systems. Using data from three national surveys, Naeemah Abrahams and colleagues compare rates of femicide, intimate partner femicide and non-intimate partner femicide in South Africa between 1999 and 2017. Author summary: Why was the study done?: Femicide, the most severe form of gender-based violence, is not well described in middle- and low-income countries. Reliable routine data from police, justice and statistical departments are not available, and dedicated studies are needed to understand the scope of femicide in the country. What did the researchers do and find?: South Africa has a methodogy to collect national data from forensic and police services to estimate femicide and repeated surveys on 3 occasions (1999, 2009, and 2017) allowed for the assessement of change over 18 years. We found that an estimated 3,793 women 14 years and older were victims of femicide in 1999, and this decreased to an estimated 2,407 femicide victims in 2017. We further found a decrease in intimate partner femicide with the age-standardised rates decreasing from 9.5/100,000 population in 1999 to 4.9/100,000 population in 2017. What do the findings mean?: The 3 surveys over 18 years shows that femicide is preventable but that South Africa remains a country with the highest globally recorded rate of femicide. The reduction in femicide rates may be partially due to the contribution of activism of women and community-based organisations in bringing about change in Government's gender-based violence policy and programme. A concern is the increase in missing data from police sources over the years, which points to the urgent need to improve information systems and integration of data across departments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]