South African government

South Africa Moves to Clean Up High-Risk Areas After 12 Women Are Killed

South Africa has announced a cleanup operation in high-risk areas after the killings of 12 women triggered a wave of national outrage over the country’s entrenched epidemic of gender-based violence. The move comes under intense public pressure for authorities to show they can protect women in communities where crime, fear and impunity have long overlapped. The deaths have sharpened scrutiny of policing, prevention and the state’s broader failure to curb violence against women, a crisis that has become one of the country’s most politically charged domestic issues.