the 16 Days of No Violence against Women and Children, Harding, Ugu District,
KwaZulu-Natal
7 December 2007
Greetings
I am glad to be part of this event to observe 16 Days of Activism for No
Violence Against Women and Children. Over the past year, this province has
experienced its fair share of cases of violence and killing of women in
particular. There have been reports of killings related to witchcraft in
Umbumbulu area with many women becoming victims.
Further south of this province, at least 11 bodies of women were discovered
in the sugarcane plantations outside Shayamoya township in Umzinto. These women
are believed to have been killed by a serial killer operating in that area.
These incidents have come as a shock to the whole country. It is unacceptable
that women continue to become victims of these senseless crimes. We should work
together as communities, police and other stakeholders to strengthen the
efforts to improve safety of women and children.
We are encouraged by the fact that in both these sets of incidents, police
have been able to make some arrests. We should encourage all those who have
information that can lead to successful conviction of the criminals involved in
these cases to continue to assist the police and the court in concluding these
cases.
We urge the courts to hand down the heaviest possible sentence against these
criminals who continue to undermine the basic right of women to safety and
security. It is disturbing to learn that many of the women killed at Umzinto
were lured to death while they were looking for employment. We cannot allow
crime to undermine the right of women to participate in economic activity and
bring income to their homes.
In fact the struggle we should be fighting is about fair representation of
women in government and all other areas of economic activity. We should be
demanding a minimum of 50% representation of women in all sectors of our
society. We can also not forget the incident of attack on women who were
wearing trousers in Umlazi. We cannot allow such primitive incidents in our
society where the principles of non-sexism have been entrenched in our
constitution. No one should dictate to women what to wear.
Acts or threats of violence instil fear and insecurity in women's lives and
are obstacles to the achievement of equality. The fear of violence is a
permanent constraint on the mobility of women and limits their access to
resources and basic activities. Since 1994, there has been a lot of effort by
the government to facilitate transformation in various areas of our society. In
the Department of Health, Gender Policy Guidelines have been established in
order to support the Department in meeting its constitutional commitment to
promoting gender equity and equality. These guidelines also assist the
department in responding to the needs of those who have been previously
marginalised. The guidelines make specific reference to addressing the problem
of gender-based violence and its negative impact on the health of women and
children.
We have developed National Policy Guidelines for Management of survivors of
Sexual Assault with the aim of improving the quality of sexual assault
evidentiary examinations. The guidelines provide health managers and health
workers with a clear framework on the management of survivors of rape and
sexual assault within the Comprehensive Primary Healthcare setting.
The guidelines are also aimed at ensuring collaboration and a coordinated
response to sexual assault cases, by providing a victim-centred approach to
service delivery and explore ways to prevent future victimisation. We believe
that all adults and children who have been sexually assaulted deserve to
receive the prompt and compassionate emergency medical-forensic care.
Provinces continue to train doctors and nurses who provide victim / survivor
centred services in all our health facilities. Through the assistance of
various experts and partners in this field, the department has recently
produced a draft Sexual Assault Care Practitioner Training Manual. We continue
to engage with various partners who can provide funding packages to enable the
department to expand on training of South African health workers in great
numbers. Our plan is to have a pool of trained and accredited health workers
who are at the coalface of service-delivery and are able to respond adequately
to the health needs of survivors of sexual assault as well as other forms of
gender-based violence.
Since 1999 the South African government has run a campaign that includes
issues relating to violence against children. This campaign 16 Days of Activism
on No Violence Against Women and Children focuses primarily on generating an
increased awareness of the negative impact of violence on women and children as
well as society as a whole.
During the 2004 campaign, President Thabo Mbeki reiterated that the campaign
should be extended to 365 days of action against gender-based violence. As a
result of this, the 16 Days of Activism campaign will spread its activities
over a period of 365 days in order to enhance the campaign effectiveness. The
campaign has brought together civil society organisations, government, and
business to raise awareness and resources to assist in strengthening support
programmes.
Gender-sensitive multi-sectoral programmes and strategies such as the 365
Days Plan of Action to end Violence should be rigorously implemented. Women and
men need to work together with children and youth to break down persistent
gender stereotypes in our society. Let us work together as government,
communities and other stakeholders in ensuring every woman and child enjoys the
right to safety and security in our country.
Thank you
Contact:
Sibani Mngadi
Media Liaison Officer: Ministry of Health
Tel: 012 312 0763
Cell: 082 772 0161
Fax: 012 325 5526
Issued by: Ministry of Health
7 December 2007
Source: Ministry of Health (http://www.doh.gov.za)
