Empowerment is key in fight against abuse

Violence against women and children is rife in our country and many cases remain unreported or go unpunished.

This year has seen an unprecedented amount of genderbased violence. South Africa’s femicide rate is currently five times higher than the global average.

It is therefore important as we acknowledge 16 Days of Activism For No Violence Against Women And Children, that we also reflect on the alarming rates of abuse and violence against women and children and begin to work on practical ways in which this scourge can be dealt with.

According to the Stats SA Demographic and Health Study, on average one in five South African women has experienced physical violence, but the picture of genderbased attacks varies according to marital status and wealth. Four in 10 divorced or separated women reported physical violence, as has one in three women in the poorest households.

The findings by the first national prevalence study conducted last year and highlighted by the Children’s Institute Out of Harm’s Way report, estimates that up to 34% of the country’s children are victims of sexual violence and physical abuse before they reach 18.

Unfortunately, to many South Africans, these statistics are not just numbers, they are lived experiences.

This year, as we have gone across the county in the “Molo Makhelwane” ANC Women’s League campaign, we came across horrific incidents of gender-based violence and child abuse.

In August, for example, I met the Kula family in Free State, who had just lost their daughter and grandchildren in a fire that was deliberately caused by the woman’s fiancé after she had decided to leave him. She had been subjected to years of physical and emotional abuse. These heinous crimes against our women and children must come to an end. We have to do much more to respond to the cries for justice of women and children who have suffered violence.

We have to do much more to end these horrible abuses and the impunity that allows these human rights violations to continue.

The government has several laws that have been passed to protect its most vulnerable citizens.

Even with these legislative efforts, gender-based violence and violence against children is quite high. We need to ensure improved access to the justice system and we also may have to begin to call for harsher sentences because too many perpetrators slip through the cracks and find their way back into our communities.

The time for action is now. The socioeconomic standing and opportunities for women must improve so as to decrease vulnerability and dependence of women on men or dangerous methods of survival.

This is one of the many reasons why we have been making the call for Radical Economic Transformation. We are saying women and young people must be at the forefront of this agenda, to improve their status in society and allow them the opportunity for independence and selfdetermination so that they’re not taken advantage of.

Children must be taught and guided from an early age about appropriate behaviour. They must be taught how to report when they have been violated physically or emotionally. Our children ought to be heard.

We as parents need to raise our children with the principle of equality of men and women.

We must prioritise gender equality, protection for our children and women’s empowerment now.