Contextual Risks and Resilience Enablers in South Africa The Case of Precious

The ubiquity of sexual violence in South Africa means that only the most gruesome incidents make headlines. Details of vicious sexual violence perpetrated against children resulting in severe, permanent internal injury, incidents of girls being abducted, raped, mutilated and murdered, as well as incidents of the so-called corrective rape against lesbian women tend to create a national uproar. The brutal violence that accompanies the murder and sexual assault in cases such as these serves as a catalyst, prompting calls for swift and immediate action by government and civil society alike (Buiten & Naidoo, 2016). The normalization and perhaps fatigue that accompanies the everyday violence against women and girls does not however suggest that issues on sexual violence are ignored. South Africa has a vociferous nongovernmental and academic sector that routinely advocates for greater protection through more comprehensive legislation and increased awareness and intervention such as Thoyondou Victim Empowerment Programme, Shukumisa, Tswaranang Legal Advocacy Centre and Women’s Legal Centre. Practically however, this activism and the existence of comprehensive laws, such as the Sexual Offences Act, the Children Act and the Children’s Amendment Act, have not been effective in curbing sexual violence in South Africa (Artz et al., 2016). Disparity is still apparent in the child protection strategy and limited resources available to support its implementation (Mathews, Loots, Sikwey-iya, & Jewkes, 2012).