Violence against women and children is a societal problem, says Gauteng Department of Community Safety

MEC Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane of the Gauteng Department of Community Safety writes:

16 days of Activism, a global campaign spanning from 25 November through to 10 December, is taking place this year against the backdrop of an unprecedented global outcry of molestation of girl children in various schools within our province and the gruesome killings of women. It is once again time to reflect on how we as a society protect our own.

An alarming rate of sexual offenses against women and children was exposed through the media and social networks over the years and increasingly since 2016/17. A special reference to recent quantum rapes that took place in and around Johannesburg ignited the awareness of sexual violence against women and children.

Between the months of April and May, Gauteng Province had experienced high levels of murder, sexual assault, human trafficking and kidnapping cases of women and children. Many have rallied behind the hashtag #Notinmyname exposing the sheer magnitude of sexual harassment and other forms of violence that women suffer in the hands of ruthless and spineless men on daily basis.

One of the survivors of Quantum taxi rape, Sindi Radebe a 28-year-old, survived the ordeal on 21 March (Human Rights Day) at around 10am in Soweto, after getting into an empty taxi to run some errands. Sindi was held at gun point by two men who hid at the back seat. She was taken to a patch veld where she was raped by one man while the other two men were watching and pointing guns at her.

Sindi went through the most traumatic experience. She’s now going through counselling where she’s responding well through the attention she receives in my department’s Ikhaya lethemba shelter that offers psycho-social services, although she struggles repeatedly with haunting nightmares.

During 16 Days of Activism social media awareness campaign on 17 November, Sindi expressed these words, “Gender-based violence knows no race, culture or creed and every woman is susceptible to it, no matter who she is, where she lives and what her background is. Why should we be afraid of our own brothers, uncles, and fathers. Stop abusing, raping and killing us.”

Sindi Radebe – A victim of Quantum rape. https://t.co/Zae7RNDUgB

— GP Department of Community Safety (@GP_CommSafety) August 31, 2017

My department has adopted 365 days of No Violence against Women and Children and we run programmes that speaks to men called, “Men as Safety Promoters and Women as Safety Promoters”: Men who change the conversation about violence against women, not only with the abused but with the abusers, empowering both parties.

Statistics reveal that over half the women of Gauteng (51.2%) have experienced some form of abuse (emotional, physical or sexual) in their lifetime and 78.3% of men in the province admit to perpetrating some form of violence against women. (The War @ Home; SA Medical Research Council 2010). In 2017, 56% of women have experienced violence on taxis.

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The Department of Community Safety has conducted many mass mobilisation and men’s march for all communities to promote collective responsibility in the fight to eradicate violence against women and children. Encourage society to acknowledge that violence against women and children is not a government or criminal justice system problem, but a societal problem, and that failure to view it as such results in all efforts failing to eradicate this scourge in our communities.

Emphasise the fact that the solution lies with all of us to empower women and girls, support survivors through adequate services so that they can rebuild their lives and stop violence from reoccurring.

Provide a platform for all South Africans to be active participants in the fight to eradicate Violence against Women and Children; hence the theme: “Count me in: Together moving a non-violent South Africa forward.”

Ikhaya Lethemba is a provincial flagship project of the Department of Community Safety and a one-stop centre for female survivors of crime and violence. Ikhaya Lethemba holistic psycho-social services continue to play a paramount role in supporting victims of gender based violence. Interventions such as skills development are linked to long-term empowerment strategies that strengthen gender equality and respect women as active agents in the rebuilding of their own lives.

At the heart of this year’s theme and in relations to the implementation of the ‘deliverology’ model the department has committed to the 50% reduction of trio and sexual assault crimes by 2019, while improving citizens feeling of safety.

Let us make sure we make a real impact in changing the scourge our women and children are facing as they are the both cornerstones and future of our nation respectively. We are reclaiming our streets back and allow Gauteng citizens to walk the streets without fear. Enough is enough!

The Gauteng Premier, David Makhura, accompanied by MEC's will this morning, launch the 16 Days of Activism. [Read] https://t.co/tTvVP9Vo4T pic.twitter.com/efRAPxetuu

— GP Department of Community Safety (@GP_CommSafety) November 25, 2017

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