Community members urged to report abuse

NELSVILLE – Lt Thokozani Zungu the detectives’s branch commander in White River

urged members of the community to watch over each other and report abuse even if

does not directly affects them.

“We are saying no to the abuse of women and

children 365 days a year and seven days a week, we are saying don’t look away

even if it’s not occurring to you, if abuse is happening in your neighbourhood

or places of work you have a legal duty to report it to 112, 10111 or at any

police station nearer to you,” he said when speaking during the recently held 16

Days of Activism against the abuse of women and children.

The event was also

attended by representatives from Child Welfare, National Institute for Crime

Prevention and the Reintegration of Offenders ( Nicro) , Police and Prisons

Civil Rights Union (Popru), African National Council on

Alcoholism & Drug Dependence (SANCA), Commission of gender equality

and other non-government organisation, who talked at length on different forms

of abuse and on what can be done to amicable deal with it.

“If a man does not

support his family, this is abuse, imagine if a child leaves home to school on

an empty stomach, there is a possibility that he or she might not reach school

and girls might end up being abused by older men promising to buy them food,” a

speaker said.

Speaker after speaker also called on the police and the justice

system of the country to be more harsher when dealing with abusers of

children.

“Let’s report them no matter how closely related they are to the

family. Let’s protect our children who are the future of this country. Ladies

protect your children not your marriages against fathers who sexually abuse

them,” added another speaker.

It was also heard that the leading cause of

abuse in the province is the use of drugs followed by alcohol.

The cluster

commander Brigadier Dorah Xaba warned women against the growing tendency of

withdrawing charges against their husbands and boyfriends.

“It worries me to

see a woman coming to the police station to say she had been assaulted by her

husband and then two days later she comes smiling to withdraw the charges. Then

you ask yourself if she was really raped or assaulted?” questioned Xaba.

“Why

would you withdraw a charge if you were raped and the suspect is arrested,?” she

added.