Dealing with Domestic Violence in Angola: Facts and reasons

Mauro Santos, UNRIC Brussels

The United Nations define violence against women as any act of gender based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or mental harm, or the suffering of women, including threats, acts of coercion or arbitrary                             depravation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life. These violent acts can take many forms and can be performed by anyone (teachers, intimate partners, employers, family members, among others).

There are many important factors that contribute to the increase and continuity of this kind of violence such as the drawback that many women face in various societies when trying to access the educational system, the forced economic dependency, and the several religious and social repressions. It is indeed a major problem in many societies and a clear violation of human rights. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 5.000 women are murdered worldwide every year by their own family members in the name of honor.

In Angola, according to the US Department of State there are 350 domestic NGOs operating in the country, 100 of which are related to human rights issues and more than 100 international NGOs also operate there. The government has never refused visas or restricted the access for international NGO observers.

Under the Angolan law and constitution women enjoy the same rights and obligations as men, but still the economic scene the country is involved in leads towards the discrimination of women. The law also provides equal salaries for equal work, although in general they hold the low-level positions of the labor market and many of them are forced to rely on the informal market.

Domestic violence against women is common in Angola and in many cases remains unpunished, and part of that is the result of the limited resources that are allocated for these matters, the lack of forensic capabilities, the judicial system and also, in part, the passiveness of society itself. In this sense, there are direct effects that this kind of crime inflicts upon the victim, such as physical and mental health, risky behavior, in addiction to the social and economic costs entailed. These crimes are reflected in all of society and represent a real problem in many social, cultural and economic aspects.

In 2007, a study about domestic violence indicated that 78 % of women were victims of some form of violence. In the following 12 months 27 % of women reported abuses in Luanda, while during the same period 62 % of them reported abuse in the outskirts of town (poorest area). In that period police recorded a total of 831 crimes. Most of these crimes are being perpetrated by the husbands or boyfriends who try to take advantage of women. Until recently, domestic violence was not illegal in Angola so on the rare occasions that it had reached court, the case was usually prosecuted under rape, assault or battery laws.

A little story told by a young housekeeper on the Diário de África blog: “This morning, she had pictures taken of her back, arms and legs; they are covered with black and purple bruises resulting from the drubbing received from her ex-husband. Armed with a stick, Amâncio eased his frustrations on Nely”(www.globalvoicesonline.org). This story goes on because during the fight he cut himself and went to the police to present charges against Nely. She also presented charges towards Amâncio but in the end he was released, and Nely will have to live with all the physical and emotional traumas such violence generates. In many cases the result is death for one of the parties involved in the case, in other cases women kill their partner in order to survive or to escape these violent acts.

But not all is bad news. Although a study indicates that there were more known cases of domestic violence in 2008 than in 2007, this can for some be seen as a positive result. It means that people are starting to be aware of their rights and it is a step closer towards the end of domestic violence; women are now fighting against this violence.

According to UNDP, the rapid growth in the economy has also led to the investment in social services that have increased substantially the living conditions of many Angolans. Angola is one of the countries that is showing both will and capability to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Angola is achieving one of the targets of the MDG’s, namely the increasing participation of women in the Parliament and Government. Moreover, the gender parity in schools has almost been reached.

Also notably remarkable was the approval of the Domestic Violence Act by the Parliament in December 2010, securing the protection of women against such acts, making any form of domestic violence illegal. At a national level this was a great effort taken by the government through the inter-ministerial work spearheaded by MINFAMU, consisting of many informative campaigns and workshops.

We can conclude that there is will and that many steps have been taken, in order to change the way people and government face the violence against women in Angola. It’s a country that is still willing to evolve not only as an economic power but also as a social developed country. Many aspects of this society are changing for the achievement of a better one.