JOHANNESBURG – As Oscar Pistorius is released early from prison on Friday, having served just over half of his 13-year sentence for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, rights groups say South Africa’s justice system is failing women.
The former sprinter was previously denied parole in March last year, having not completed the minimum detention period, and his release was opposed by the family of Ms Steenkamp, a paralegal and model who was 29 years old when Pistorius killed her in 2013.
However, in November his parole went unopposed, with Ms Steenkamp’s mother, June Steenkamp, stating she “simply could not muster the energy to face Oscar again” but that she “did not believe Oscar’s version” of events about how her daughter was killed and “I don’t know anyone who does”.
South Africa has one of the highest rates of femicide – the killing of a woman or girl because of her gender – in the world. The country is experiencing an epidemic of violence against…
