All the noise over gender-based violence won’t help until we tackle the rot in our society

IT’S perplexing to continue reading reports about the government’s efforts to address gender violence, violence against women, rape and other heinous attacks on women.

However, speeches grandstanding, sword-rattling and calls for prayer meetings for abused women on church billboards are a waste of time.

It’s like asking US President

Donald Trump to stop tweeting or for Kim Jong-un to stop firing rockets. No one is listening. The horse has already bolted and nothing in the world can stop it.

Violence and non-compliance are endemic in our society, where life has no value and respect for the law is non-existent.

There is no difference between a taxi driving down a one-way street, violence against women or using the k-word.

It’s a mindset. It’s an ugliness ingrained in our society. It’s a lack of caring, a lack of respect. It is showing the middle finger to authorities and having total disregard for the justice system.

All the huff and puff in the world about addressing the problem is a smokescreen to cover up a sick society, a society that is sinking into a quagmire of despair as a result of joblessness, hopelessness, despair, hunger and poverty.

Herein lies the problem. Fix the economy, create jobs, create hope, give people reasons to live good lives, to stop the violence, to develop respect for the law, for doing the right thing. Sanity will surely follow. COLIN BOSMAN | Newlands