Tembisans address women and child abuse

NGOs and some parastatals have been calling for tougher measures to deal with those arrested for abusing women and children. At the moment, the 16 Days of Activism campaign is on, but the question is: Should people only talk about women and child abuse during such a campaign?

Monica Masoga said, “People should not only wait for the 16 Days of Activism Against Women and Child Abuse Campaign to talk the abuse of women and children. We have to keep on educating people about social ills in society 365 days a year. We must also focus on women’s behaviour. It is wrong for women to put on short skirts and go out during the night. As women, we must also teach our girls good behaviour. What do girls want in taverns and shebeens at night? We can play a big role in reducing the rate of rape if we respect ourselves as women.”

Lydia Mabunda said, “The timing for the campaign is wrong because many people are on holiday during this period. You cannot stop people on the way and tell them about the campaign. I also think the campaign should be an ongoing event, not just for 16 days. Women and children are abused every day. When it comes to women who are abused during the night when they are drunk, I think they must also take responsibility for their actions. How can a woman walk alone on the street during the night while drunk? That is inviting trouble.”

Avhashoni Gotho said, “Even though the campaign aims at the abuse of women and children only, people should try to organise it every month. My only concern is that we should also campaign against the abuse of men by their wives insociety. As men, we must stand up and report women who abuse us. There are men who are physically and mentally abused every day, but they are too shy to report such cases to the police. We have to campaign for ourselves. Why should we hide when we are being abused?”

Mulomoni Mavhuthu said, “The campaign should go on for the whole year. But we must also look at the reasons for such abuse, because there are people who think men and women have the same rights when it comes to family matters these days. I am an African, and if my wife comes home drunk and fails to prepare food for me, then I see trouble because ‘die poppe sal dans‘. This thing of 50-50 only works at work, so that people with the same qualification can be paid the same. It does not mean people have the same rights in my family.”

Patric Nemukondeni said, “The campaign is a sign of liberating women from the jaws of slavery in the community. We have to run it everyday, because abuse happens every day. We must also teach women to respect children. They should not encourage children to dress like adults, they should dress like children. If you dress a girl child like a European artist, how do you expect the child to behave in the future? When running such campaigns, we must also look at ways to bring back morality into society.”