As the country marks the start of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign today, the DA would like to take this opportunity to reaffirm its commitment to ending the abuse of our society’s most vulnerable and supporting those who have fallen victim to it.
While the campaign is important in raising awareness around gender-based violence (GBV), we believe the safety of women and children must take priority on every day of the year, not only during this period. Restoring normality in our broken society will take more than 16 days in a year as GBV occurs daily.
Sound leadership and strong legislation are required to decrease the soaring levels of GBV and the ANC national government has failed to deliver on both fronts. The ANC has also failed to protect our schoolgirls from sex for marks and money scandals in Eastern Cape schools, with informants providing stories of matric girls writing their final exams who have been made pregnant by teachers. It has been reported that such cases have been brought to the attention of the Eastern Cape Education MEC – and nothing has been done about it. This is made worse because our courts system is an unwelcoming place for victims of such circumstances. We are in desperate need of a sexual offences court that specializes in dealing with these cases – both strictly, promptly and with the necessary care provided to the victims approaching the court.
The DA is serious in our commitment to protect our women and children. It is for this reason why we proposed that the Domestic Violence Act (DVA) and the Protection from Harassment Act be repealed and replaced with a universal instrument that will protect victims from abuse in all its forms, be it in the home, the workplace, from a family member, spouse, employer, unknown party, in the form of physical, emotional or economic violence.
The DVA provides crucial protection to the most vulnerable sections of society, however it has been far less than what we needed as we continue to read daily of how many women and children are abused.
A new law that is far-reaching and easy for victims to execute would go a long way in ending gender-based violence. This law would set out a single procedure for laying a complaint and provide for specific processes that are to be followed by the SAPS, social workers and other role-players.
The most vulnerable South Africans have a right to be protected from GBV. However, the ANC’s lack of leadership has shown repeatedly that they do not intend to prioritize victims’ safety. The DA is the only party that will protect women and children. We continue to prove this by demanding better legislation and ensuring that leaders who have failed at their duties are held accountable.