War on GBV ‘a losing battle’
Raising women’s opportunities one of solutions
As SA enters day one of the global 16 days of Activism, the department of women and children says it is fighting a losing battle as more violent crimes are committed against women and girls.
Despite the government’s efforts to end the scourge of violence against women and children, the department said the picture was getting worse.
The annual 16 Days of Activism is a campaign starting November 25 and ending December 10 that denounces all forms of violence against women and children. The period also commemorates that scourge against society’s most vulnerable.
Earlier this week, police minister Bheki Cele released the latest crime statistics which showed that 7,004 people were killed between July and September, an increase of 841 compared to the same period last year.
Cele revealed that more than 10,000 rapes were reported in the three months, which roughly translated to an average of 109 rapes a day.
Speaking in parliament ’ s women caucus committee meeting yesterday, Ranji Reddy chief director for research and policy at the department of women, youth and persons with disabilities said crime against women and children had escalated to devastating heights.
“Despite all of these efforts, this scourge is continuing relentlessly. It is even taken on unimaginable, brazen and heinous acts of violence and the violation of human rights of women and girls.
“The strategic focus is therefore to move away from the rhetoric towards implementation, accountability and enhancing women’s socio-economic opportunities so that they can build their resilience to be able to walk away from incidents of violence...” Reddy said.
Reddy, officials from the SA Police Service and the department of justice and correctional services gave an update on strides her department was making in the fight against GBVF.
SAPS lieutenant-general Michael Motlhala said DNA backlogs had been reduced by more than 50% by the beginning of November.
The backlog is currently standing at 71,287, down from 143,795.