‘Fight gender-based violence like Covid’

The three-day world conference on qualitative research yesterday wrapped up in Boksburg, with delegates calling for an end to gender disparity and gender-based violence (GBV) – a plea supported by keynote speaker Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, who said the societal level of commitment to end GBV was non-existent.

For her frank assessment on challenges facing women and the youth in a patriarchal society, the former SA deputy president and University of Johannesburg chancellor earned rousing applause from the audience, which included delegates from Poland, Zambia, Angola, the Philippines, US, Swaziland and Lesotho, Brazil, UK and Portugal.

GBV has become endemic

Challenging society and government to fight GBV with the same vigour as when confronted with the global Covid pandemic, Mlambo-Ngcuka said the scourge affecting scores of women has become endemic.

“Gender-based violence is a pandemic and, having come out of a pandemic, we know how to fight it,” said Mlambo-Ngcuka.

“We have not come out to fight gender-based violence the way we fought Covid. GBV was there before the health pandemic, higher during Covid and has remained behind it – demonstrating how much endemic it is.

“When we had Covid, countries and governments closed borders – forfeiting your right to travel. They found money to pay for vaccines that have kept us safe – protecting us in far-reaching ways.

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“All around the world, we knew the Covid protocols and respected them – wearing masks and engaged in social distancing whenever we needed to,” she said.

“But we do not have all that when it comes to gender-based violence because it is regarded lightly. The level of commitment to end GBV does not yet exist.

“If you equate our law-enforcement with health workers, working day and night risking their own lives, exposed to sick people – something still has to change in our society so that the fight against GBV is effective.

“It is not a fight that you can just leave to government, because it requires a societal effort.”

Most incidents happen among intimate partners

Mlambo-Ngcuka said most of the GBV was happening among intimate partners.

But, said one delegate: “A woman goes to report a case at a police station after having been violated – and she is asked what she did.

“Today a similar question is posed to women who report GBV cases. I am advocating for the SA Police Service (Saps) members to change their approach on how they handle GBV cases.

“There are protocols which exist on how to ask questions – being sensitive on how to deal with such matters. But members of the Saps continue to be insensitive, with officers expecting to be shown a scar as proof that the victims have been violated,” according to the delegate.

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