Have we given up fighting GBV?

There was a time when the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign was a big deal in our district.

There would be lots of activities and gatherings to mark the start of the 16 days on November 25, with different activities running until December 10.

I have not seen much of this happening recently, maybe the Covid-19 pandemic had something to do with this or our government entities’ priorities have changed.

Perhaps it has evolved away from big events to different forms of engagements with communities ravaged by the scourge of violence against women and children.

Prof Naheema Abrahams from the SA Medical Research Council said last year: “The Eastern Cape unfortunately is our province that has more than twice the national rate. About 22,000 women were killed in 2017 compared to 14,000 in KwaZulu-Natal. Limpopo doesn’t have as many cases but the number is still higher than the global average.”

In the last financial year, 67,358 women were reported as victims of contact crimes.

From July to September this year, 1,514 incidents of attempted murder and 14,401 assault GBH cases where women were victims were recorded nationally.

Alarmingly, 293 children were killed, with 361 murder attempts and 1,820 assault GBH cases recorded.

Stats show we are far from winning the war against this scourge. Rarely does a week pass without reports of some gruesome act being perpetrated against women and children.

Does it mean the measures put in place by government to fight the problem are inadequate? Do we need better policing and preventative measures?

Have our communities abdicated our responsibility to bring up our children, especially boys, better? Seeing that the perpetrators are our sons, fathers, brothers, uncles and friends, does the responsibility not start with us first?

What do we do when our friend is a perpetrator and we know about it? Do we protect him and turn a blind eye or do we come to the aid of the victim?

Do we shun those we know are doing these things or do we pretend we see nothing or blame the victim for ‘provoking him’?

When you know your friend or friends are involved in predatory sexual activities against vulnerable groups such as underage girls or boys, do you call them out or avoid doing so, so as not to risk your friendship?

When your son is accused of GBV, do you protect him or do you let the law take its course without you helping him to get away with it?

It takes a village to bring up a child. Have we forsaken this dictum and replaced it with a selfish mentality and indifference to the suffering of others? Has our society become callous and uncaring? Do we a need a complete reset in how we bring up our children. I think we do and the sooner we are honest about it, the better.