Johannesburg – The Department of Women, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities said the absence of social and economic power for women creates patterns of violence and poverty that, over time, become self-perpetuating, making it particularly difficult for the victims to detach themselves from abusive relationships.
“Given the heightened levels of violence against women, girls, children, persons with disabilities, elderly women, the LGBTQIA+ community, women migrant workers, women refugees and asylum seekers, and sex workers in the country, the annual campaign has over the years evolved into a 365-Day programme to fight the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF),” the department said in a statement.
It said the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic are still being navigated and quantified, with women bearing the brunt of the shrinking economy, slow recovery, and increased unemployment.
“Further global trends in the slowing down of markets and trade continue to impact the lives of women, who form the majority of informal and unprotected economic sectors,” the department said.
“These conditions are fertile breeding grounds for the further marginalisation of women, predatory behaviour, increased dependency by women on men as breadwinners, and increased tolerances for abusive behaviour to access basic needs.
“At the heart of our mandate as the department is to ensure that women, youth, and persons with disabilities play an effective role in representation, ownership, and control of income-generating assets within the economy,” said Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane.
She said that as the government, they must view the participation of women in the economy as critical to ensuring the objectives of the Economic Recovery and Reconstruction Plan are met.
Meanwhile, GOOD secretary-general Brett Herron said “as a country, we have to use the 16 Days of Activism for the No Violence Against Women and Children Campaign this year to soberly reflect on what needs to be done to address this war against the most vulnerable in society”.
“We need effective action, not just outrage and anger every time these statistics increase,” Herron said.
“South Africa is a violent, crime-ridden place, and we need to address this in a holistic manner which includes the transformation of our current social, spatial, and economic structures,” he said.
Herron said, “women and children need to know that when they speak up, they will be supported by a functioning system that will actually ensure consequences for perpetrators, and some form of justice for them”.
The Star