DON'T LOOK AWAY
Officers urged to prioritise cases of violence against women and to wear name tags
TO MARK the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children Campaign, the Right2Know Campaign protested outside police stations across Cape Town to raise concerns about the manner in which cases of violence on women and children were addressed.
Nomacebo Mbayo from the Right2Know Campaign said: “Our concern is about the delay in attending to the issues and the process that may even give the survivors second thoughts on reporting these cases. We call on SAPS to make these cases a priority and to ensure the safety and security of women and children.
“We also urge the police and justice system to protect and give advantage to the vulnerable groups which are women, the LGBTIQ+ community and children. We demand that activism against gender-based violence must continue 365 days.” The protesters gathered at police stations in Makhaza Lingelethu, Khayelitsha, Manenberg, Mitchells Plain, Mfuleni, and Ocean View, and handed a memorandum to various station commanders.
“SAPS must have a proper plan and support system for survivors. We also demand that cases of gender-based violence be solved. Police must wear name tags so we can be able to easily identify those who violate our rights when we report cases. And we also demand police visibility in the community,” Mbayo said.
Wendy Parker, who gave a sexual offence presentation on types of offences and the circle of abuse, said the under-reporting of sexual and domestic violence offences and problematic police recording of these cases were barriers to fully understanding the scale of violence against women.
“Available evidence paints a grim picture: police crime statistics between 2007 and 2013 reveal 1016588 cases of contact crimes committed against women. Femicide is a major contributing factor, as 50.3% of female homicides are committed by intimate partners,” Parker said. She said no formal protocols on intimate partner violence interventions at primary health-care level were in place yet.