Violence Against Women
Source: The New Age
South Africa's culture of gender-based violence, patriarchal dominance and a lack of economic independence for women took centre stage at The New Age Business Briefing on the eve of Women's Day.
Speaking in her capacity as President of the ANC Women's League, Angie Motshekga had strong words on the topic 'Are we doing enough to curb gender violence in our society?'.
Speaking frankly, the minister said : "We as women are always scared of being attacked. When you're driving home you're worried about being raped and killed. I am encouraged by the work of civil society organisations and institutions but more needs to be done to stop this culture of violence in South Africa."
Senior Researcher at the Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre, Lisa Vetten said it was not so much about drafting policies and implementing legislation to fight the scourge of gender-based violence as it is about changing behaviour.
"We don't have an idea how to change behaviour as laws and polices don't do this. What we need are programmes that are effective in creating economic independence for women so that they do not have to rely on men for their meal ticket."
The police were challenged to establish a serial rape task force by Vetten who said she knows the police were dealing with 477 known serial rapists at the moment.
Touching on the issue of South Africa's patriarchal society and the inequality suffered by many women, Nhlanhla Mokwena bluntly said : "We are not winning the war. There simply isn't enough support. We need economic empowerment programmes that abused women can start in the shelters and continue with after they leave."
There is a culture of blaming the victim of abuse with probing and often insensitive questions based on what the survivor could have done to prevent the attack, shifting the blame of the attack".
Mokwena called for harsher sentences for gender-based violence and for justice to be served.
Mbuyelo Dyasi, national coordinator of the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) apologised to all women on behalf of men saying how disappointed the good men in society are for the prevailing situation.
"I am so sorry to all women. We don't approve of what we are doing as men and we are such a disgrace to society. We [as SANAC] have decided to stop holding conferences in hotels and are taking our message to the ground level in communities to find out what is wrong with us. Some men understand the issues but just don't care."
Experience has taught Dyasi that men considered it an unmanly and emasculating concept to discuss gender-based issues. SANAC, through their Brothers For Life campaign, are trying to explain the issue within a context of human rights. "Having grown up without a father is not an excuse to hurt someone. We will be meeting at the Johannesburg Stadium on 24 August for the 'Not in my name' rally against violence against women."
A survivor of abuse and attempted murder at the hands of her husband, Matshadi Rasodi, said the scars of abuse have left her blind.
"I have had to learn to forgive in a big way but I am breaking the silence and saying it is wrong and it cannot ever be condoned. My domestic violence started with small quarrels and then escalated to a point where I was beaten with whatever he came across. After years, I realised I needed to move out. That is when he threatened to kill me if I didn't return home."
Despite several complaints laid with the police against her abusive husband, no action was taken and he went on to shoot Ramsodi in the head and parade her around to his friends and her colleagues, who were eventually able to take her to hospital.
Suggestions to break the cycle of violence and gender-based violence include reducing the number of firearms in the country, constraining the availability of alcohol, and the introduction of specialised police units to deal with sex crimes, and serial rapists, in particular.
South Africa's culture of gender-based violence, patriarchal dominance and a lack of economic independence for women took centre stage at The New Age Business Briefing on the eve of Women'