16 Days of Activism: George stats shock
Stand up, speak out, act, love and protect. With these words the acting speaker of the Garden Route District Municipality (DM), Barnie Groenewald, welcomed guests to the launch of 16 Days of Activism campaign last Friday morning.
The campaign was officially opened by Garden Route DM's executive Deputy Mayor, Rosina Ruiters, who lit a candle in remembrance of all victims of violence. The message was clear. No domestic violence or any form of abuse against women and children will be tolerated.
According to the Eden cluster commander, Maj-Gen Oswald Reddy, who also addressed the crowd, we live in a violent society with high levels of intolerance. "Women and children are vulnerable and we have to protect them. There will be consequences for unacceptable behaviour," he said.
In the 2017/2018 financial year a total of 126 murders were reported in and around George. In 15 of these cases the victims were women and 14 were children.
Out of 577 reported rape cases, 321 victims were women and 226 were children. 991 Women were the victims of assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and of 2 824 cases, 250 were children.
Reddy said it is sad that violence has become the norm. "In cases of women and child abuse, arrests will be prioritised. Violence and abuse knows no boundaries and one cannot become a protector if you don't know protection," he said.