against Women and Children
5 May 2006
We the participants at this watershed conference to agree on a coordinated
and comprehensive approach to ending violence against women and children;
Consisting, as we do, of 260 representatives from all spheres of government;
constitutional bodies; civil society; business; unions; faith-based
organisations; traditional authorities and international cooperating partners
including United Nations Agencies;
Concerned, that ten years after our Constitution came into force and the
ratification of several international human rights instruments the rights of
people who suffer gender based violence are still daily violated;
Convinced that the Age of Hope depends on all South Africans living in an
environment where they are free from fear and able to exercise and enjoy their
full human rights;
Aware that the 16 Days of Activism campaign needs to be sustained all year
around;
Recommit ourselves to the following fundamental provisions of the
Constitution:
* The equality clause which outlaws unfair discrimination on grounds of race,
gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual
orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language
and birth;
* The right to human dignity;
* The clause on freedom and security of the person which states that everyone
has the right to âbodily and psychological integrityâ. This includes the right
to make decisions concerning reproduction; to security and control over oneâs
body and to dignity;
* Socio-economic rights such as right to adequate housing, health care
services, food, water and social security;
* The statement that in cases where customary law or any law conflicts with the
Constitution, the Constitution will take precedence.
Commit ourselves to finalising a detailed action plan whose overarching
objectives are to:
* Strengthen and place far greater emphasis on prevention through forging
effective partnerships with all stakeholders, including schools, parents
associations, community based organisations; the media; local government;
traditional and religious leaders; the private sector and inter government
sector as well as develop criteria for monitoring the effectiveness of such
campaigns.
* Ensure men work together with women in eliminating patriarchy.
* Create a safe physical environment.
* Promote a holistic, empowerment approach to eradicating violence against
women and children that takes account of the intersection of race, class,
location, disability and sexuality and of the role of poverty and economic
inequality in fuelling this scourge.
* Eradicate violence against women and children in a targeted and measured way
over the coming decade, based on baseline data on sexual offences, domestic
violence, sexual harassment, hate crimes and identity based violence to be
established as part of the action plan.
* Develop, enact and implement a comprehensive legislative framework that gives
effect to the rights of all citizens especially women and children to be free
from gender based violence; cost the laws in place and develop business plans,
for their implementation;
* Ensure an integrated case management system operating on minimum standards
with a view to reduce cycle times and increase conviction rates of perpetrators
of gender violence;
* Eliminate secondary victimisation by improving services to survivors of
gender violence and ensure that every survivor has access to comprehensive
treatment, victim friendly care that is standardised and coordinated between
the various service providers;
* Provide effective support and help to empower survivors of gender violence to
reclaim their lives and dignity; as well as to rehabilitate perpetrators
* Put in place effective monitoring and evaluation mechanisms.
We further commit to ensuring that the following priority actions, at a
minimum, are taken before the 2006 16 Days campaign that starts on 25 November
2006:
* The Sexual Offences Bill is passed after a further round of public
comment.
* The Childrenâs Bill is passed as part of the development, promulgation,
resourcing and implementation of legislation and policy to effectively prevent
and respond to violence against children harmonised with international
conventions, standards and norms.
* An audit of all specialised services (forensic clinic services, one-stop
centres, Victim Empowerment Centres etc) is conducted to determine what exists
and to develop a best practice model.
* A strategy is developed for the management of sexual offences including the
establishment of sexual offences courts, with participation of non-government
organisation (NGO) service providers;
* The drafting of a joint, integrated training plan on violence against women
and children and a body to co-ordinate the above;
* Development of implementation plans for all existing policies and procedures
including the National Policy on Sexual Assault Care Practice under the IDMT.
This should include provincial and civil society representation and should have
a strong public education and awareness component;
* Formulate a policy framework on partnerships between government and
non-governmental organisations in the provision of shelters and places of
safety to include all stakeholders, including local government.
* Canvass the draft action plan extensively with all stakeholders, especially
those not represented at this conference, and those that have the capacity to
ensure that this plan is affected at community level, such as local government,
schools and traditional authorities.
* Put in place the coordinating structure for the National Action Plan
including a multi-sector task team comprising representatives of all the
working committees and a Council of Deputy Ministers chaired by the Deputy
Minister of Local Government as the champion of the 16 Day campaign;
* Put in place a secretariat with the necessary technical support to ensure
effective capacity and implementation.
* Find mechanisms to ensure relevant disaggregated data; agree on key targets
and baselines for the effective monitoring and evaluation of the action plan;
and put in place a computerised tracking system to be developed with assistance
from the IT department of Treasury;
* Finalise the short term action plan for the next six months by June and
receive any additional inputs for the medium term action plan by the end of
June with a view to adopting the 2007 Action Plan at the end of this yearâs
Sixteen Day campaign on 10 December.
We, commit to collective resource mobilisation to ensure that these actions
are taken and will hold each other mutually accountable for the actions we have
pledged to ensure that every woman and child in our nation is able to enjoy the
rights to which they are entitled by our Constitution.
Agreed this 5th day of May 2006
Issued by: Government Communication (GCIS)
5 May 2006
