The City expects law enforcement agencies to take stern action against perpetrators of gender-based violence (GBV), all the while guaranteeing protection for victims.
It is incumbent on law enforcement officials to create safer conditions that ensure female victims reporting cases of violence against male perpetrators are not re-victimised. These are the sentiments of councillor Geoffrey Makhubo, the Executive Mayor, who condemned the deplorable state of femicide in the country.
Makhubo said August, as Women’s Month, allows the City to evaluate its contribution towards eradicating sexism and fostering a truly non-sexist and anti-sexist society.
“GBV and femicide demand a collective response because they threaten our beliefs, first encapsulated in the Freedom Charter and now in the Constitution, that South Africa belongs to all its people – women and men; black and white – regardless of their sexual orientation,” he explained.
Makhubo recently unveiled the City’s Women’s Month programme, which aims to address gender-based violence and femicide (GBV&F) under the theme Generation Equality: Realising women’s rights for an equal future.
The last week in August sees the culmination of the month-long programme with a Women in Leadership week (24 to 29 August 2020) aimed at accelerating women’s economic empowerment by providing affordable, usable and responsive financial and non-financial support to women-owned businesses and providing business-related information to those aspiring to participate in entrepreneurial activities.
Black women are encouraged to enter the property industry as the sector is still male-dominated. The week-long programme will also encourage sustainable, balanced, inclusive growth and improve the representation of women in political leadership positions. “Through this initiative, the City hopes to showcase the wealth of wisdom and leadership invested in women and tap into their insight in crafting a society that is fair and just for generations to come,” concluded Makhubo.
