Self-liberation

AS WE offer support to the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children campaign, we must bear in mind that poverty and unemployment are at the centre of perpetuating the scourge of abuse and practical solutions must be in hand.

The exclusion of women from economic participation must not be overlooked, as it is one of the major factors influencing all sort of violence that women find themselves in.

Women and girls are less likely to report abuse if it is perpetrated by breadwinners.

The government operates within a system of gender inequality that was previously imposed by cultural practices and the old apartheid system which saw women as objects.

It is pleasing to see government departments such as the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform turning women into self-liberators by offering them entrepreneurial skills and resources to create their own income.

The handing over of the arts and crafts material to the Buhlebesive Arts and Crafts Co-operative by Deputy Minister Mashego Dlamini at Chochocho village, Mbombela, Mpumalanga, is a practical example of the solutions one can think of. The Buhlebesive Arts and Crafts Co-operative is made up of local women who were trained in bead work by the department in order to enable them to produce and sell their products so that they can earn a living. If women are financially emancipated they are able to care for their families and they are less likely to be abused. Mpho M Rammutla Pretoria