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'One Stop Centres' and state accountability for sexual violence against women: comparing service integration models in Kenya and South Africa
There is increasing recognition that sexual violence victims have multiple and complex needs, requiring the joint intervention of multiple sectors to generate a more effective response. As such, multi-sector collaborations that integrate health, legal and psychosocial support services are acknowl...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Public Law
2021
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| _version_ | 1867613575101546496 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Lekakeny, Ruth Nekura |
| author2 | Moult, Kelley |
| author_browse | Lekakeny, Ruth Nekura Moult, Kelley |
| author_facet | Moult, Kelley Lekakeny, Ruth Nekura |
| author_sort | Lekakeny, Ruth Nekura |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | There is increasing recognition that sexual violence victims have multiple and complex needs,
requiring the joint intervention of multiple sectors to generate a more effective response. As
such, multi-sector collaborations that integrate health, legal and psychosocial support
services are acknowledged as a best practice intervention. Despite the dearth of evidence on
how such integration approaches operate in resource-constrained settings, they continue to
be established and scaled up in parts of Africa. Using a qualitative case-study approach, this
thesis seeks to understand how integration approaches in Kenya and South Africa contribute
to the fulfilment of the human rights obligations of states to prevent and effectively respond
to sexual violence against women.
I use interview data to compare Kenya’s Gender Based Violence Recovery Centres and South
Africa’s Thuthuzela Care Centres across rural, peri-urban and urban contexts. The thesis
moves away from current analysis approaches, which assess integration models based on
separate, sector-specific outcome indicators, such as health or criminal justice system
outcomes. I use a feminist human rights perspective, based on the state’s responsibility to
exercise due diligence in prevention, protection, prosecution, punishment and provision of
adequate redress. This perspective facilitates the centrality of victims’ needs and rights in
assessing service integration models, while foregrounding the need for state accountability
to establish sustainable and effective sexual violence interventions.
I argue that multisector approaches that integrate sexual violence services are complex
networks, which produce different service orientations, shaped by the interactions of
collaborating partners, amidst fundamental systemic and structural flaws. In the governance
of collaboration systems, different service orientations emerge as stakeholders within
networks, wield their resources, mentalities, methods and institutions to produce certain
outcomes as priority over others. Consequently, as competing sector-specific mandates and
ideologies are prioritised, multi-sector approaches can eclipse and de-centre the needs and
rights of sexual violence victims.
To fulfil the state responsibility to exercise due diligence, there is a need to re-orientate
integration models in a way that centres the needs and rights of victims rather than the
competing institutional mandates of network players. This requires the implementation of a
victim-centred integration approach that goes beyond creating safe havens or protected
processes through specializations, to that of shifting deeply-rooted social and institutional
norms, which are the root causes of violence against women. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/35308 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:38:19.546Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publishDateRange | 2021 |
| publishDateSort | 2021 |
| publisher | Department of Public Law |
| publisherStr | Department of Public Law |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/35308 'One Stop Centres' and state accountability for sexual violence against women: comparing service integration models in Kenya and South Africa Lekakeny, Ruth Nekura Moult, Kelley Smythe Deirdre Public Law There is increasing recognition that sexual violence victims have multiple and complex needs, requiring the joint intervention of multiple sectors to generate a more effective response. As such, multi-sector collaborations that integrate health, legal and psychosocial support services are acknowledged as a best practice intervention. Despite the dearth of evidence on how such integration approaches operate in resource-constrained settings, they continue to be established and scaled up in parts of Africa. Using a qualitative case-study approach, this thesis seeks to understand how integration approaches in Kenya and South Africa contribute to the fulfilment of the human rights obligations of states to prevent and effectively respond to sexual violence against women. I use interview data to compare Kenya’s Gender Based Violence Recovery Centres and South Africa’s Thuthuzela Care Centres across rural, peri-urban and urban contexts. The thesis moves away from current analysis approaches, which assess integration models based on separate, sector-specific outcome indicators, such as health or criminal justice system outcomes. I use a feminist human rights perspective, based on the state’s responsibility to exercise due diligence in prevention, protection, prosecution, punishment and provision of adequate redress. This perspective facilitates the centrality of victims’ needs and rights in assessing service integration models, while foregrounding the need for state accountability to establish sustainable and effective sexual violence interventions. I argue that multisector approaches that integrate sexual violence services are complex networks, which produce different service orientations, shaped by the interactions of collaborating partners, amidst fundamental systemic and structural flaws. In the governance of collaboration systems, different service orientations emerge as stakeholders within networks, wield their resources, mentalities, methods and institutions to produce certain outcomes as priority over others. Consequently, as competing sector-specific mandates and ideologies are prioritised, multi-sector approaches can eclipse and de-centre the needs and rights of sexual violence victims. To fulfil the state responsibility to exercise due diligence, there is a need to re-orientate integration models in a way that centres the needs and rights of victims rather than the competing institutional mandates of network players. This requires the implementation of a victim-centred integration approach that goes beyond creating safe havens or protected processes through specializations, to that of shifting deeply-rooted social and institutional norms, which are the root causes of violence against women. 2021-11-11T08:35:58Z 2021-11-11T08:35:58Z 2018 2021-11-04T11:21:54Z Thesis / Dissertation http://hdl.handle.net/11427/35308 eng application/pdf Department of Public Law Faculty of Law University Of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Public Law Lekakeny, Ruth Nekura 'One Stop Centres' and state accountability for sexual violence against women: comparing service integration models in Kenya and South Africa |
| title | 'One Stop Centres' and state accountability for sexual violence against women: comparing service integration models in Kenya and South Africa |
| title_full | 'One Stop Centres' and state accountability for sexual violence against women: comparing service integration models in Kenya and South Africa |
| title_fullStr | 'One Stop Centres' and state accountability for sexual violence against women: comparing service integration models in Kenya and South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | 'One Stop Centres' and state accountability for sexual violence against women: comparing service integration models in Kenya and South Africa |
| title_short | 'One Stop Centres' and state accountability for sexual violence against women: comparing service integration models in Kenya and South Africa |
| title_sort | one stop centres and state accountability for sexual violence against women comparing service integration models in kenya and south africa |
| topic | Public Law |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/35308 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT lekakenyruthnekura onestopcentresandstateaccountabilityforsexualviolenceagainstwomencomparingserviceintegrationmodelsinkenyaandsouthafrica |