Declare GBV a national emergency – UNICEF
M– National emergency!
BABANE
United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Acting Resident Coordinator Amina Mohammed supports the call by Eswatini civic society on declaring GBV a national emergency.
Mohammed was making her remarks at the launch of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) last Friday.
The theme for the year 2022 is ‘Unite! Activism to end Violence against women and girls’.
The event was attended by stakeholders that included the Deputy Prime Minister’s Officers whose portfolio is directly involved in gender issues.
Mohammed further thanked the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Eswatini who were working tirelessly in an effort to eradicate GBV. She acknowledged that the task was huge and every person in the country must take part in ensuring GBV stops.
SHOCKING TO LEARN
The UNICEF acting resident representative said it was shocking to learn of the depressing stories of fathers raping their own daughters.
She said those people did not even deserve the title to be called fathers, for the inhumane and horrific acts they commit to their own children.
Mohammed noted that such horrific news are very prevalent in the mainstream media. Which means a lot of work still needs to be done.
She further shared with the stakeholders the story of a father who even went as far as to record his sexual abuse which he committed on his own daughter.
She urged the country to consider declaring GBV a national emergency and to find a national consensus on workable initiatives to end GBV.
Mohammed further honoured the works gender activists for the undeniable pressure in calling for the declaration of a national emergency on GBV.
“I’m honoured to the activists for their role, especially Nonhlanhla Dlamini as the National Executive Director of SWAGAA in the fight for eradicating GBV,” said Mohammed.
The chairperson of the Gender Consortium, Tom Churchyard, said they were numb on the issues.
Churchyard said they were tired of the depressing news as they work on the issues on a daily basis. He said they greatly appreciated the media’s interest on the matter.
Meanwhile, Principal Secretary in the DPM’s Office Melusi Masuku said government was also consulting from neighbouring countries who had already made such a declaration before doing the same.
He also shared that the office was also researching on what parameters such a declaration can be made, as such must be aligned to the Disaster Management Act of 2006.
Masuku also said the DPM’s Office advises the nation that behaviour change is critical in addressing such social ills; the national laws alone including declarations cannot eliminate this scourge.
UNFPA Margaret Thwala-Tembe said violence against women often goes unreported, silenced by stigma, shame or fear of the perpetrators and limited justice delivery system.
She said a study by the Human Rights Commission on the SODV implementation in 2020 found that one in five cases of abuse are sexual and that the law when it comes to implementation has been slow and not as we had anticipated due to different factors.
“This needs urgent attention. We need to find a way of creating an enabling environment that prevents GBV and push for finalisation of preventative pieces of legislation that will assist,” said Tembe.
She further disclosed that these include the Marriage Bill, Matrimonial
Property Bill, Legal Aid Bill and revision of the Legal Practitioners Act, to allow those without money to be assisted in getting justice.
She further said for many emaSwati, without financial resources, accessing justice remains a dream resulting in impunity prevailing.
TEMPORAL SHELTERS
“We further need safe spaces to give survivors temporal shelters while dealing with abuse cases. Our courts need to take into consideration infrastructure that is child friendly and inclusive of persons living with disabilities,” added Tembe.
She said she was aware that this cannot be done by one entity but as a collective they could make an impact.
The event was also graced by the European Union Ambassador to Eswatini Dessislava Choumelova.