There have been increasing calls to all sectors to intervene in addressing GBV, its economic cost to the global economy was estimated at $1.5 trillion (UN Women, 2016). The economic cost of GBV to South Africa has been estimated at between R28.4 and R42.4 billion (KPMG, 2014). Still, there has been little evidence of widespread successful GBV interventions (Abrahams, Mathews, Martin Lombard & Jewkes, 2013). It has also become clear, as Morrison and Orlando (2005) argue, that accounting-based measures of GBV were insufficient, suggesting that different perspectives are needed. While many private sector organisations have GBV interventions through corporate philanthropy, they have not taken action to address the issue head on.
The purpose of this commentary is to show that just funding non-government organisations dealing with GBV issues is no longer sufficient. GBV is the responsibility of stakeholders across all sectors and the criticality of the private sector’s participation and intervention, in particular, has to be clearly articulated.
How the Private Sector Can Address the Issue of GBV has been published by African Safety Promotion Journal. It is accessible on the African Journals Online (https://journals.co.za/content/journal/safety) and South African Medical Research Council (https://www.samrc.ac.za/content/social-and-health-sciences-journal) websites.