This far and no further: 16 Days of Activism against GBV kicks off
CUT from her knee to her ankle with a blade, hit with a hammer, beaten to a pulp and ending up in hospital just for trying to go to study.
This is the story of a woman counted among the shocking statistics of crimes against women in South Africa, as the 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence and femicide campaign begins today.
The 16 Days of Activism is an annual international campaign that runs until December 10 with the theme: “UNITE! Activism to end violence against women and girls”.
Police Minister Bheki Cele this week released the quarter two crime statistics for 2022/2023 which revealed that more than 13 000 women were victims of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm between July and September 2022.
About 1 270 women were victims of attempted murder, and 989 women were murdered during this period, while more than 10 000 rape cases were opened with the SAPS, for the same period.
“I have scars for life all over my body from what my ex-boyfriend did to me. He would beat me for no reason and I would always blame myself. He would have mood swings, just anger that comes out of him then I don't know what I do wrong. I would take beatings for my kids. I stand in the middle. He would beat me in public, when I came from work, and accuse me of cheating,” the survivor said.
The mother of five was with her abuser for more than 14 years in the hope that things would get better. They never did.
In September she decided enough was enough after he cracked her face and ribs for trying to focus on her school work as she is in the process of getting her matric.
Vanessa Nelson, founder of Hope for
the Future, was also a victim of GBV and was nearly killed.
“I'm a GBV activist, I was a victim, I am a survivor and I'm now a champion. I nearly lost my life at the hands of my partner in 2002. I was attacked, I was raped at knife point by my ex husband. Love is such an overrated word, he tells you he loves you but in the same breathe he wants to beat you up. I ended up in a psychiatric ward because of my depression from years of abuse. I needed to claim back who I was as a woman. I claimed back my control, it was the only way and I needed to forgive myself.
“When I survived all the abuse in my first marriage, I knew I'm gonna become an activist. My time being hospitalised and being depressed, when I healed I would sit at the day hospital and talk to other women to offer my support. I found empathy for a woman. I became an activist because of my lived experiences,” she said.
Today from 7am, Nelson's organisation is hosting a silent protest on Duinefontein road, Heideveld against magistrates who she says let out repeat offenders but face no accountability.
The 1000 Women Trust will also be sending 1 000 postcards to President Cyril Ramaphosa during the 16 Days of Activism campaign. Compiled by participating NGOs the postcards would be delivered to the Presidency in Pretoria by December 10.
“The aim of the initiative is to mobilise a network of NGOs in South Africa who focus on gender-based violence, to think of practical ways in which we can work with the police, department of social development, courts and social workers to improve service delivery to women and children,” said Tina Thiart, director of 1000 Women Trust. Globally, an estimated 81 100 women and girls were killed intentionally in 2021. This is according to a study by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and UN Women which shows that, on average, more than five women or girls were killed every hour by someone in their own family in 2021.