Why investing in gender-based violence prevention is essential
The government continues to fail to use the 16 Days period as a launch pad for initiatives not only raising awareness during the campaign, but set out how it intends to strengthen the fight against women and children for the next 12 months, says the writer.
Image: File: Timothy Bernard / Independent Newspapers
THE violent crimes committed against women and children during this year’s 16 Days campaign prove that the current strategies to end this scourge are irrelevant.
The situation is worsened by the government’s failure to use the 16 Days period as a launch pad for initiatives not only raising awareness during the campaign, but set out how it intends to strengthen the fight against women and children for the next 12 months.
This failure is evidenced by the absence of the Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Sindisiwe Chikunga who appears during the launch of the campaign, never to be seen publicly again.
That does not inspire confidence in the government's stated objective to end violence against women and children when this important campaign is left to the NGOs that the state hardly supports financially.
It also sends a message that the ‘war’ against gender-based violence is only being waged through fancy speeches, not in real action.
If not, then our news pages would be reporting something worthy of celebration.
But there are no positives to note when three young children are victims of a mass shooting in the Saulsville hostel in Pretoria, or when 9-year-old Zechariah Matthee is killed during a suspected gang-violence in Mitchells Plain, or when two children aged four and seven, were wounded and another, a 14-year-old are killed in suspected gang-related shooting in Cloetesville in Stellenbosch, or when a 32-year-old mother is stabbed to death inside her home following an argument with her partner in Malangeni, KwaZulu-Natal.
These are just a few of many incidents demonstrating that turning the tide against GBV will take more than advisory councils, commissions of inquiry or task teams.
We recently used this space to implore President Cyril Ramaphosa to walk the talk and ensure funding is made available to fight GBV. And there is no better start than directing more funds towards GBV prevention.
Khulisa Social Solutions Managing Director & Founder Lesley Van Selm aptly sums it: “If we are willing to invest in what actually works, we can shift the trajectory of a country exhausted by trauma and fear. Prevention is not a dream.”