Violence against women still prevalent

Published by SA Crime Watch Forum on YouTube on 26 November, the video of the taxi driver who assaulted a passenger has sparked outrage.

It came a day after the start of the annual 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign that ends on 10 December.

The taxi driver apparently got furuous when the woman passenger’s cell phone was ringing.

That the phone was ringing, would not have been such a big issue for the general populace.

But, according to friends of the Facebook page Taxi Drivers & Other Sad Stories, some taxi drivers prohibit the use of cell phones “out of fear that passengers will take a video of taxi drivers bribing law enforcement officials”.

Violence against women

The sad truth about the incident though, is that violence against women is still prevailent in our society.

And more shockingly, is that bystanders have become just that – they are standing by.

Have we become numb to violence?

Or have fear paralyzed us to such an extent that, rather than help, we turn our backs?

feminist.com says the following:

• men have been taught to relate to the world in terms of dominance and control, and they have been taught that violence is an acceptable method of maintaining control, resolving conflicts, and expressing anger. When a boss sexually harasses an employee, he exerts his power to restrict her freedom to work and improve her position. When a battering husband uses beatings to confine his wife to the home and to prevent her from seeing friends and family or from pursuing outside work, he exerts dominance and control. When men rape women, they act out of a wish to dominate or punish.
• Whether or not an individual man who commits an act of violence views it as an expression of power is not the point. The fact that so many individual men feel entitled to express their frustration or anger by being violent to so many individual women shows how deeply these lessons of dominance and violence have been learned.

Solutions:

There are many solutions available to curb violence againt women.

UN Women says: “Violence against women and girls is rooted in gender-based discrimination and social norms and gender stereotypes that perpetuate such violence.

“Given the devastating effect violence has on women, efforts have mainly focused on responses and services for survivors.

“However, the best way to end violence against women and girls is to prevent it from happening in the first place by addressing its root and structural causes.”

UN Women believes kids should be taught from a very young age to respect one another, to oromote respectful relationships and gender quality.

Women have a big role to play as well in that they must open the door behind which violence againt them are occurring.

Find help:

1. Stop Gender Violence helplibe: 0800 150 150
2. 2. People Oppised to Woman Abuse(Powas): 083 765 1235
3. Others

Real men:

Nominate a REAL MAN in your life on Facebook and give men in SA great role models to look up to. A REAL MAN is not perfect, but he inspires you. A real man is someone who makes the world a better place, just because he is there. He makes you feel safe and challenged all at the same times.