UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, General Recommendation No. 19: Violence against Women, Eleventh Session

This case involves domestic violence allegedly committed by the appellant husband against his wife, the complainant. The wife charged the husband with assault and was able to secure an interdict ordering appellant not to assault the complainant and their child, and not to prevent them from leaving or entering their joint home. However, the appellant again assaulted the complainant and threatened to kill her. As a result, the appellant was convicted for violation of the interdict. The husband appealed the conviction but was denied. In the discussion, the court cited the constitutional requirement to deal effectively with domestic violence. The constitution of South Africa specifically provides that "everyone has the right to freedom and security of the person, which includes the right... to be free from all forms of violence from either public or private sources." Read together with the constitutional mandate for the state to respect, protect, promote and fulfill the rights in the Bill of Rights, it must be understood as obliging the state directly to protect the right of everyone to be free from private or domestic violence. Indeed, the state is also mandated to protect both the rights of everyone to enjoy freedom and security of the person, and to bodily and psychological integrity, and the right to have their dignity respected and protected, as well as the defensive rights of everyone not to be subjected to torture in any way and not to be treated or punished in a cruel, inhuman or degrading way.