Programme director
Honourable Executive Mayor of Capricorn district municipality, Councillor Lawrence Mapoulo
Honourable ministers and deputy ministers from our Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries
Distinguished members of the diplomatic corps
Representatives of government, civil society and development agencies
Esteemed guests, friends and colleagues, ladies and gentlemen
Sanibonani, molweni, dumelang, avuxeni, good morning.
We have come to the end of a highly successful and very moving and constructive dialogue on a crucial topic of providing support to victims of crime and violence.
At the outset, I would like to commend you for your commitment in attending this conference and for your insightful and focused participation. The conference has covered a lot of ground and we have come up with quite specific concrete and practical recommendations on the way forward on a number of very important issues.
Programme director, you will agree with me that this conference was a good opportunity for discussion, interaction, networking and exchanging of ideas. I am confident that this conference will not be a soon to be forgotten event.
I believe if we can follow up on what we have decided we shall have contributed significantly to increasing coherence in our work on victim empowerment programme. It is important to keep up the momentum. For this reason, we rely on your support and dedication in the coming months and beyond as advocates for change in the war against domestic violence and human trafficking.
I want to thank specially the chairpersons of the plenary session and the facilitators of the commissions who delivered the summaries of the conference's proceedings. I do not want to repeat their work; however, I will try to highlight few of the key issues that were raised.
Over the last few days there has been a series of presentations, speeches, group discussions and generally, deliberations by the conference delegates about how we can practically improve services to victims of crime and violence.
For me the highlight of this conference was the gala dinner that was held last night in recognition of outstanding and courageous work of men and women who laid the foundation for victim empowerment programme in our country.
On behalf of the department and on my own behalf, I want to express our heartfelt gratitude to you. For many of you who toiled behind the scenes no thanks will ever be enough.
Your determination and commitment in this sector is a constant reminder everyday that there is no force that can sustain itself against the full thrust of a determined human heart. May your contribution here be worn as a badge of honour for the rest of your lives. For you have, through your service, defined for all of us to see what it is to be a proud, South African.
Ladies and gentlemen, the main points that emerged from the main conference deliberations are centred on the following areas that are critical to our intervention strategies and programmes:
Involvement of men and boys in prevention of gender based violence
Ms Ajwang' Warria reminded us that men can stop gender based violence simply by acting as role models for non-violent masculinity. In this respect, men's roles as fathers, caretakers and guardians are crucial.
Evidence shows that boys who witness male violence towards the mother are more likely to become perpetrators themselves.
The presence of so many men in a conference of this nature defies the conventional thought that men are naturally programmed to be violent and aggressive. Events like this conference can help us to identify those men or groups of men who could act as "agents of change" and promote positive roles which men can take in order to challenge prevailing gender stereotypes and discriminatory cultural norms.
The quest for eradicating domestic violence poses a positive challenge to men, who remain largely represented in leadership positions in political and public life in most of our countries, to use their power and political will to take effective measures to combat domestic violence.
On the other hand, men can also take other active roles, as we have heard throughout the conference, as professionals, colleagues, family members, partners and friends and neighbours to speak against domestic violence.
Regional cooperation
Domestic violence and human trafficking are global problems. The Honourable Deputy Minister of Health and Social Services of Namibia, Ms Petrina Hanguira reminded us that despite positive and significant achievements in policies and practices, violence against women in its various forms, is still widespread at all levels of society in all SADC member states.
We reinforced the need to regional cooperation to combat cross border criminal activities such as human trafficking. We agreed that SADC has a role to play in this regard and that this is an area that we must pursue.
Furthermore, we underscored the importance of strengthening the legal justice system to ensure the comprehensive protection of victims and the prosecution of perpetrators who commit acts of violence against women and children.
In essence, we need to set an African agenda to deal with issues of domestic violence and human trafficking and confront underlying causes such as poverty and under-development in which the empowerment and development of women is a leading and recurring theme.
Hate crimes
One of the emerging and very important issues is that we need both preventive and responsive collective action to address the growing phenomenon of hate crimes.
Many presenters have pointed out that hate motivated crimes and incidents such as homophobic and xenophobic attacks have a stronger long-term impact on victims.
In recognition of this phenomenon and the danger it poses, the conference has recommended government need to take a proactive stance to ensure a more robust and effective response in combating such crimes and incidents.
While acknowledging that the responsibility for combating hate crimes lies primarily with government this conference has also recognised the crucial role civil society can play in this endeavour.
A case in point was a presentation of a community driven model by Mr Sandile Matati. We need to replicate such models throughout the country so that the ugly incidents of xenophobic attacks and the senseless attacks of people on the basis of their sexual orientation such as the brutal killing of Eudy Simelane do not happen again. The conference has strongly recommended that hate crime must be criminalised and adequately punished.
Victim centred approach
A range of practical interventions designed to achieve successful outcomes for the victim empowerment programme were presented in this conference.
While each of the speakers focused on a different aspect of the response, a common theme that from the presentations is that responses to domestic violence and human trafficking must be victim-centred, tailored to the particular needs of the victim.
Every victim's needs are different and complex, and conference speakers repeatedly emphasised that that a "one size fits all" solution cannot work.
Another key message from this conference is that effectiveness of a victim empowerment system depends on a multi-disciplinary approach. This enables the victim's needs to be addressed holistically, provides continuity of care and empowers the victim to make choices. We have to make it easier for victims to report, and make perpetrators face up to their crimes.
The very fact that you as practitioners and as government representatives have been participating in this conference together show that combating domestic violence and human trafficking requires collective action.
It requires political will and it also calls for the creation of an enabling environment for all professionals working to support women victims of domestic violence. This is what we can achieve together.
Monitoring and evaluation
Ms Monica Bandeira's presentation reminded us of the importance of monitoring and evaluation in victim empowerment programme. Indeed, there can be no doubt about the need for regular monitoring and evaluation of victim empowerment programme to enable thorough stocktaking of the actual implementation.
Ladies and gentlemen, there is no doubt that significant progress has been made, but much still need to be done. Key amongst these is to ensure the implementation of a comprehensive and proactive approach focusing on three fundamental areas, namely prevention of violence against women and children, protection of victims and prosecution of perpetrators of such violence.
Ladies and gentlemen, October is Social Development Month and as government we once again take this opportunity to call on you to intensify your efforts to eradicate poverty and all other forms of vulnerabilities that afflicts women and children.
October 1 is the International Day of Older Persons. In pursuit of our constitutional and international obligations of care, welfare and protection of older persons, our government will focus on intensifying programmes for older persons during the course of this month.
October is also Transport Month in South Africa. I therefore wish you all a safe journey back home and a good rest after such hard work. I look forward to meet you again at future sessions.
In conclusion, I would like to take this opportunity to extend our gratitude to our brothers and sisters from the other SADC countries. As Minister Molewa mentioned in her opening address, we trust that the support you demonstrated here in statements will be turned into serious action at both local and national levels, where it really matters.
The outcomes of this conference must make a difference for women suffering from domestic violence and human trafficking. The governments and the organisations that we all represent here have the possibility and the responsibility to ensure that women no longer suffer in silence, but that legal and policy action is taken to support and protect them effectively.
I also want to express my appreciation to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), European Commission and the Limpopo Provincial Government for hosting this important conference.
Let me once again thank you very much for your enthusiastic engagement throughout the meeting and your very candid observations and contributions.
My final words today will therefore be a call for action. I urge the victims to report their aggressors, I entreat women to claim what is theirs and I encourage decent, law abiding men and women of our country to work together to wage and win this war against gender based violence and human trafficking. And with those few words, it is my pleasure to declare this conference closed.
I thank you.
