Mhlahlo at the Day of Accountability during 16 Days of Activism
7 December 2006
Programme Director
Members of the Executive Council
Members of the District Council
Honoured guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Today we mark the culmination of the heightened awareness of the 16 Days of
Activism. From 24 November when we launched this campaign to 10 December 2006
this campaign has been instrumental in bringing issues of violence against
women to the forefront in local, national, regional and global arenas.
The 16 Days of Activism should serve as a clear reminder to all South
Africans that the freedoms for which we fought can never be fully appreciated
as long as members of our society remain vulnerable to violence and abuse,
often by those closest to them.
These are the freedoms fought for by the women marching to Pretoria in 1956
to fight for the emancipation of women from oppression and violence.
Symbolically these two weeks are linked to the World AIDS Day on 1 December and
the International Women Human Rights Day on 10 December as these three issues
are interwoven to deliver abuse of human and sexual rights of women.
During the 2004 Campaign, President Thabo Mbeki reiterated that the campaign
should be extended to 365 days of action against gender-based violence. It is
in that spirit that the Women's Economic Forum held in Queenstown took a
resolution to improve the status of women, thereby empowering them as survivors
of violence.
It is in that spirit as well that earlier this year our Honourable Premier
launched the Charlotte Maxeke Development fund for women so that women can
attain economic independence which is a factor in the continuation of abusive
relationships.
The extent of the youth gender based violence in Eastern Cape
According to the latest research there is a clear indication that violence
against women and children has soared drastically over the past few years.
Every 30 seconds a woman or child is raped and one in four women is beaten up
by her partner in South Africa. A recent study of 1 370 boys in the Eastern
Cape found that one in five boys admitted to raping girls; 172 had raped a
non-partner; 64 had raped their girlfriends; 51 had raped their girlfriends and
other girls; the vast majority of these schoolboy rapists admitted to
gang-raping or streamlining.
The study also said that boys raped girls to punish them for "being
successful or for imagining she could be superior". Boys, especially those that
had mothers who had gone to high school and beyond, felt they had higher status
because their parents are educated and did not see any reason why a girl should
turn them down. And when boys felt that they did not have access to some girls
who thought they were prettier and good in the community, and had made a
decision not to be sexually active, one way to bring them down was to gang rape
them.
What can parents do to discourage this kind of behaviour?
We must allow boy children to participate in activities at home so they can
understand and respect activities that are not anti-social and behave
responsibly. Boys grow up with an attitude that says life is tough and you have
to use force to get your way. When they are older they use the same violence
against us! We also have to counter the attitude that to be a boy you should be
aggressive and if you are not, you are a sissy.
What should be done to stop the gender based violence in general?
Primary preventive interventions should focus on improving the status of
women and reducing norms of violence, poverty, and alcohol consumption. Public
education programmes have to be developed and made accessible in all the
languages of our country through the use of all forms of electronic and print
media as well as radio. We can only bring about necessary change through a
concerted, comprehensive and integrated accessible public education programme
involving government and all of civil society.
The Department of Safety and Liaison has launched the Provincial Crime
Prevention Strategy which focuses inter alia on community empowerment in this
regard. It is now upon our police to investigate thoroughly without favour and
bring to court those that are responsible for this terrible scourge. It is upon
our judiciary to inflict the necessary punishment and rid our poor societies of
rapists, wife and child molesters and paedophiles. Community leaders such as
religious leaders, school principals, and teachers, to name but a few, are
responsible for moulding characters and developing community value systems and
ethos.
In addressing violence against women, the involvement of men is imperative.
A national forum should be established to discuss the issues in this area and
in relation particularly to violence against women. I once again reiterate my
earlier appeal to the judiciary to review the sentences meted out to the
perpetrators, real men do not rape and abuse their children.
Our legal system has created a conducive environment on which hefty
sentences on rapists can be issued, and by that send a powerful message to men
that their violence is not acceptable and life and safety of our women and
children is worthy of protection. We must not allow our children exposure to
media pornography in which rape and abuse of women is glorified. We must say no
to a complacent society that turns a blind eye to these emerging tendencies in
our communities.
Let us love our children, our boy and girl children. Some societies go to
crazy extents to protect their offspring. We cannot afford to raise children
that are mentally scared because they have been abused or seen abuse in front
of them. Freedom and democracy and the vision of the Freedom Charter depend on
men and women who are empowered to defend the values of our society.
I thank you
Issued by: Office of the Premier, Eastern Cape Provincial Government
7 December 2006
Source: Eastern Cape Provincial Government (http://www.ecprov.gov.za)
