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16 Days of Activism campaign VOL 14 ISSUE NO.150
TEL. 076 276 4241 / O62 O16 4622
Speak Out - BE THE VOICE OF COURAGE’ LANZO CRUYWAGEN For the next 16 days South Africans is teaming with the world and all stakeholders to stop the most heinous crimes committed unabated against women and children. The 16 Days of Activism campaign kicked off on Saturday (November 25), International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, through to International Human Rights Day on December 10. This year marks the 26th year of this campaign which is directed at raising global awareness about the plight of women and girls when it comes to violence. It is sad that after 23-years of democracy women and children are still subjected to horrendous brutality and the latest South African Police (SAPS) painting a bleak pictures showing that 170 616 women suffered grievously bodily harm, 156 450 suffered common assaults, a total of 39 828 rapes and 6 271 sexual assaults recorded by the Police in 2016/17. MEC for Community Safety, Dan Plato (pic), was launching the campaign in Marikana requested support from everyone to join the call to action: “Speak Out - BE THE VOICE OF COURAGE.” The theme for 2017’s campaign is, “Count me in: together moving a non-violent South Africa forward”. “Marikana has been rocked this year by violence and death. This is evident in the amount of children in criminality, and the luring of young people into a life of drugs and gangsterism. We cannot accept the normality of women of young girls being raped, killed and their bodies dumped. “It is a major problem that, in most cases those responsible for the heinous crimes and abuse are males and known to the victim. More than 56% of murder of women is perpetrated by intimate partners – making intimate femicide the leading cause of death for women,” Plato said. The African National Congress Women’s League (ANCWL) echoing the same sentiment emphasized that all members of the society must be at the forefront to defend the rights of women and children. Its general secretary Meokgo Matubu said: “In this campaign of 16 Days of Activism of no violence against women and children, the ANCWL urges all South Africans to recommit and work together to eradicate the scourge of violence against women and children.” Meanwhile the Centre
for Constitutional Rights reiterates that the struggle for women to live their daily lives whilst feeling safe has never been highlighted more than it was this year. Rebecca Sibanda, legal assistant at the Centre states the most known statistic relating to gender-based violence is that one in three women, globally, had experienced physical or sexual abuse, mostly by an intimate partner. A sad tale that had seeped into thousands of homes on the Cape Flats and women left with visible and deep emotional scars.
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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017
Men are protectors, says Imam
Speaking at the Bonteheuwel Walking Ladies (BWL) 16 Days of No violence against women and children, Imam Davids reminded the largely women audience, according to scriptures, men are the protectors. ‘It’s important men understand for future generations, present men showed the way by honoring and respect their wives and mothers.
Men are the protectors, caretakers and commander of their wive/s and to look after them. They (women) are not to be abused and oppressed, for this is one of the highest acts of worship.” Project director of BWL Soraya Salie, concluded saying, “Nothing is private when violence is involved in a relationship.”