Urban violence and health—South Africa 1995

Many cities all over the world are the loci of various forms of violence. Violence is a complex phenomenon, its causes are multidimensional and its consequences have ramifications far beyond the immediate perpetrators and victims. The aim of this paper is to review various forms of urban violence and their health consequences, locating them in the wider South African context. Owing to the lack of centralised data, the information presented in this paper is based on the best available data derived from numerous sources. Using the socio-environmental model of health and disease as a framework, violence and its impact on health is discussed. The brief review of political violence, violent crimes, violence against women and domestic violence in South Africa, highlights the fact that SA is a particularly violent society. The data presented suggest a link between the social context of violence and its health consequences, dealing with the impact of urban violence in the form of physical trauma as well as emotional trauma associated with it. Consequently, adopting a comprehensive approach, that violence needs to be understood in the wider societal context and has to be dealt with in the broadest terms possible, as advocated by the “New Public Health” approach, a way forward to reduce levels of violence and cope with its health consequences is suggested. An emphasis is placed on the three levels of prevention and the vital collaboration between the judicial system, police, the health sector as well as the community.