Speech of the Minister in The Presidency responsible for Women, Minister Susan Shabangu, Mp: 16 Days of Activism of no Violence against Women and Children, Joint Sitting of Parliament, Cape Town
Honourable Speaker,
Honourable Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces,
Honourable Deputy Speaker,
Honourable Deputy Chairperson of the NCOP,
Honourable Members,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
The debate on 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children takes place against the ambiance of the celebrations of the 60th Anniversary of the Freedom Charter. The ideals of the Freedom Charter as enshrined in the Constitution has ensured a culture of respect for human rights and an identity founded on the values of non-sexism, non-racialism, democracy and unity in diversity. The Constitution further guarantees equality and freedom from any form of violence or discrimination.
In 2014, His Excellency President Jacob Zuma made the call for the 16 Days campaign to be effective 365 days, 24 hours of the day and every minute, to fight the scourge that eats our society. Under the leadership of the Department, government, in partnership with various stakeholders including Crime Line, acceded to this call, and launched the #365 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children as well as #CountMeIn Campaign on the 11th Dec 2014.
16 Days of Activism, as a United Nations-endorsed campaign, is a flagship of the #365 Days of Activism and a period of heightened awareness and enhanced activism for No Violence Against Women and Children. This is when we commit to intensify the action against the brutal and dehumanising acts of violence against women and children.
The approach adopted by Cabinet is a deliberate act to fight violence against women and children as a societal issue and not domestic one, because this scourge can only be defeated through collective action of both women and men. Our approach throughout #365 Days is multi-sectoral and inclusive as we mobilised faith based organisations, traditional leaders, labour movement, civil society organisations, the media and the sporting fraternity.
We must move away from just messages, and build the spirit and culture of voluntarism to mobilise the nation towards change of attitudes and to eradicate the scourge, under the theme: “Count Me In: Together Moving a Non-Violent South Africa forward”.
During the 2014 16 Days of Activism, we reached thousands of people throughout South Africa and in the Continent. The participation by government departments at national and provincial level as well as the participation of local government contributed to the massiveness of the campaign. Through these partnerships, the Department was able to leave behind parks for children and food gardens in crime hotspot communities. Sports people were also mobilized as ambassadors for the campaign.
We have seen thousands and thousands of South Africans signing a pledge to be “counted in” against gender based violence. We were also able to reach out to 46 African countries, reaching about half a billion people through One Gospel, SABC, ANN7, Etv and other media platforms. The interfaith organizations and civil society organizations have been critical in social mobilization throughout our #365 Days Campaign and have expressed appreciation of the continuous partnership with government in the campaigns against gender based violence. All sectors were mobilised to speak in one voice against this scourge and be part of “many voices, one message” in this everyday campaign.
Over the last seventeen years, we have witnessed growth of the 16 days of Activism Campaign, making it one of the most known government events in South Africa, according to the GCIS Tracker Survey. We must therefore build on this and turn the awareness into behavioural changes and ensure that the reported reduction of cases essentially represents reduction of actual incidents of violence against women and children.
The urgency of addressing this issue and instilling positive values is underlined by the recent spate of terrible violence and sexual offences against women and children as well as older persons. This terrible violence includes an incident in September where a Limpopo father killed his four children between the ages of four and thirteen years by slitting their throats and forced the youngest to call his mother whilst butchering the others.
It also includes an incident in October where a gang of twelve attacked two couples while enjoying picnic and raped one woman and drowned two men in a lake in Rhodes Park. May I take this opportunity to welcome the arrest of one of the suspects and call on the police to move with necessary speed in putting the rest of the gang members behind bars.
Learning from the successes of the #365 Days, there is growing recognition of the need to engage both victims and perpetrators of violence against women and children, in order to change the mind-set, prevent future incidents and actively assist non-perpetrators who are at risk of carrying out domestic violence. This year we continue to build on this inclusive approach and continue to position gender based violence as a societal issue.
In addition to the protection of the rights of women and children, the campaign will also continue to focus on the protection of the rights of other vulnerable people such as the LGBTI community, people with disabilities, the elderly, and people living with albinism. In partnership with the NYDA the Department will continue to educate and create awareness among young people in order to strengthen the prevention pillar and turning youth into agents of change with respect to activism of no violence against women and children.
Last year we made a commitment to hold National Dialogues on Gender Based Violence. This commitment could not be met as a result of the lack of resources within the Department. We are still committed to ensuring that women and men from the length and the breath of our country are given an opportunity to participate in the national conversation to seek solutions to gender based violence. We are ready as the Department for the national dialogues traversing the whole country both urban and rural areas engaging women and men.
The dialogues will now take place next year as a build-up towards the 60th Anniversary of the 1956 women’s march. They will provide a platform for women to tell their personal stories with regards to violence they may have experienced at home, in the workplace and how it has impacted on them and indeed how they see the solutions. We do this understanding that violence is complex and requires a multi-pronged solution involving various role players both in government, private sector as well as society as a whole.
The symbol of no violence against women and children is a red and white ribbon which epitomises the causal link between gender based violence and HIV and AIDS. We call on all South Africans to wear the red and white ribbon to show their support for the fight against this scourge.
The Integrated National Programme of Action Addressing Violence Against Women and Children (2013-2018), adopted by Cabinet in 2013, has an extensive range of existing and new measures aimed at complementing initiatives such as the sexual offences courts and other victim empowerment initiatives. One such initiative was the establishment of the Gender-Based Violence Command Centre by the Department of Social Development (DSD) in March 2014.
The GBV Command Centre is aimed at improving services to women and children who experience violence and abuse. It is a 24-hour call centre dedicated to provide support and counselling to victims of gender-based violence. The command centre is aimed at providing immediate psychological assistance and referral to victims affected by gender-based violence, and to assist them in avoiding additional exposure to violence.
We congratulate Minister Bathabile Dlamini and her team at the Department of Social Development for this innovation that has no doubt put South Africa at helm of international best practices on the fight against gender based violence. The GBV Command Centre has now been recognised continentally as well as internationally for its innovative approach and excellence in the fight against gender based violence.
It has won a number of internationally acclaimed awards such as the Innovation Award in the Contact Centre Management Group 2015, Changing Lives Award Category in the Africom Award 2015 and the Gold Medal at Global Best Contact Centre Award recently held in Las Vegas, Siyaqhuba!
The crime statistics released by the South Africa Police Services in September this year indicate a decrease in the overall violent crime rates due to the declining number of assaults and sexual offences cases reported. For example, reported cases of rape continue to decrease. In 2008/09 when cases of rape were enrolled for the first time in the magistrate courts across the country 46 647 cases were reported and in 2014/15 rape cases has dropped by 7.4% to 43 195.
We need to closely examine these statistics and be alive to the fact that there are also many cases that go unreported as a result of a number of factors such as fear, a belief that disclosure is pointless, embarrassment and the notion that women must endure violence because it is culturally accepted and normal. There is reluctance on the part of victims of violence to come forward and seek legal advice and social support.
This could be due to women’s economic dependence on men and poverty, the social stigma around domestic violence, or the inaccessibility for rural women of police stations and courts. In order to understand the depth of the problem, we will ensure that we have disaggregated data on gender based violence because the current crime statistics do not show data specific to domestic violence.
This debate also takes place at a strategic moment where the global community has moved from the MDGs and adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) and shaping a post-2015 development agenda. This includes Goal Five, focusing on the achievement of gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls.
As a country we are committing ourselves to mainstreaming goal five into all the other goals. We cannot talk about poverty or development without talking about issues of women’s empowerment and gender equality.
This is well captured in the words of one of the leading African revolutionaries, Kwame Nkurumah: “The freedom and development of African women is indispensible to the freedom and emancipation of the African people.”
The second phase of radical socio-economic transformation will continue to address the inequality, poverty, unemployment and violence that continue to plague our country, and bedevil the lives of the majority of women and children.
The United Nations has declared the 19th November as the International Men’s Day, focused on men’s health. This day provides also for solidarity against violence against women and children. On Thursday next week we call on South Africans, to switch on their hazard lights, blow whistles and hoot for at least 5 minutes in the period between 07:30 - 08:00 in the morning, to say “Not in my name”. I call on you, across the nation, to stand up and say: Count-Me-In! On this day, we want to hear the cacophony of sound as South Africans join forces to be heard saying “Enough is Enough” - Rho neta! We call on all male members of Parliament to join thousands of South African men as they say: “Rho neta!” Enough is Enough!
We appeal to all South Africans to switch-off their lights between 20:00-21:00 on 24 November and light a candle in memory of many South African women and children who have died as a result of this scourge. On the International Day against violence against women and children, 25 November, I extend an invitation to all Members of Parliament to join us in Naauwpoort near Mahikeng in our national event addressed by His Excellency, The President. This cannot just be a government campaign. Once more I want to emphasise – this is a campaign for the nation, saying Count Me In – Together Moving A Non-Violent South Africa Forward.
The Report on the Status of Women in the Economy indicates that, and I quote: “Given the nature of the problem, it seems unlikely that there exists a single intervention that would dramatically reduce or eliminate violence against women. Instead, a multi-pronged approach is arguably required, involving economic, social, infrastructural, legal and attitudinal interventions, as well as the mainstreaming of gender considerations in both public and private sector programmes.”
Together let us build a society where, women can walk freely in the street and children can play safely outside with no fear of being attacked. Let us continue to speak against this scourge and build on the successes of the last 17 years as well as the successes of the 1st year of #365 on no violence against women and children. Let us continue to have “many voices, one message” that says “Count me in: Together moving a non-violent South Africa forward!”
I thank you!
