About 70 women bikers came together to take a stand against gender violence on Saturday.
They were escorted by about 10 women from the Gauteng Traffic police and five women from the Tshwane metro police on motorcycles.
These women, who were from various biker clubs, marched from Hatfield to the Union Buildings, said president of Task force Riders motorcycle club, Sully Motsweni.
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“We had several meeting spots in Gauteng to accommodate all the bikers and from there were rode to Hatfield where the march started,” she said.
Motsweni said they felt that not enough awareness was created against the “scourge” of abuse against women and children.
She said they listed several concerns in the memorandum.
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“We want the president to make sure that violence against women and children is eradicated,” she said.
“There needs to be enough police presence, including more empathetic and understanding police officers at the various stations.”
Female bikers riding against gender-based violence this afternoon. Violence against women and children is human cruelty in action. #endGBV #RealMenProtect #TakeCharge @SAPoliceService @GTP_Traffstats @GautengProvince @Abramjee pic.twitter.com/3wKTQ8tt9v
— GP Community Safety (@GP_CommSafety) September 14, 2019
She said they also asked in the memorandum that there be a section at the police stations that specifically deals with gender based violence crimes.
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“We also asked the Government for more shelters for women who has nowhere to go after they laid a case against the perpetrators,” she said.
“We also feel that there needs to be a public registry of the convicted sexual offenders because they are able to re-enter the system without people knowing.”
“Sentencing must also be high enough and bail applications needs to be stricter.”
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Motsweni said their memorandum was well received and they were promised a response within 14 days.
“We do not want to hear promises, but see that action is taken,” she said.
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