Pretoria - The City of Tshwane and various stakeholders yesterday launched this year’s 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children campaign.
To mark the occasion, Tshwane Metro Police Department held a parade from Burgers Park to the Women’s Heritage Monument.
Today is the UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Children. In South Africa, the 16 Days campaign starts today and continues until December 10.
The theme for 2021 is “The Year of Charlotte Mannya Maxeke – 16 Days of Activism” – moving from awareness to accountability.
Collet Rweqana of the City of Tshwane’s Gender Desk said gender-based violence was a very serious issue that needed all hands on deck.
Rweqana said South Africa still had a long way to go in terms of fighting the scourge of gender-based violence, especially considering the country’s past, socio-economic issues and other dynamics.
“We have introduced very progressive laws in order to fight gender-based violence. However, implementation is still lacking. Women are still being killed almost every day in South Africa and are still being victimised. A lot of inequalities still exist, and this needs each and everyone to play their role,” she said.
Thabang Malapela of the Social Development and Strategic Interest Group Development said they were part of the campaign launch in order to call on men not to look away when women were being abused and to pledge to protect and love women.
“Women are being brutalised, broken down physically and spiritually every day. Men must address their egocentrism and respect the views of women and see women as equal partners,” he said.
Last Friday, the SA Police Service released the second quarter crime statistics of July 1 to September 30, which revealed that 897 women and 287 children had been killed during this period.
There was a 7.7% increase in women murdered and a 31.7% hike in children murdered compared to the same period a year ago.
Pretoria News