Gender violence: Time to get to the heart of the matter

An assessment of progress on dealing with the root causes of gender violence since the last Sixteen Days of Activism campaign by Gender Links (GL).
It is time to stop fire fighting and grapple with the root causes of gender violence, according to an assessment of progress since the last Sixteen Days of Activism campaign by Gender Links (GL).

Speaking at the launch of the cyber dialogue initiative at the City of Johannesburg on the eve of the campaign that starts on 25 November, International Day of No Violence Against Women, GL Director Colleen Lowe Morna said the recent acrimony over rape statistics mars the much deeper issues at stake.

Whether the actual number of cases of sexual assault is ten or one hundred times the officially reported statistics of 52,733 in 2003/2004 what is apparent is that sexual assault continues to rise as other forms of crime decline, she said. Furthermore, what is not in dispute is that these statistics are the tip of the iceberg; that many cases get withdrawn due to societal pressure; that rates of conviction are unacceptably low; and that the scourge cuts across all racial and ethnic groups.

She added that police statistics do not disaggregate or give any idea at all of the many other forms of gender violence that include physical, emotional, economic and psychological abuse. Recent cases of sex trafficking that are also not recorded as a separate category, reflect the fact that South Africa has now become part of a shocking feature of globalisation that smacks of a modern form of slavery: except that it only affects women.

HIV/AIDS, which is both a cause and consequence of gender violence, has added a frightening new dimension to this scourge. It underpins the decision by NGOs to combine the white ribbon (symbol for the fight against gender violence) and red ribbon (for HIV/AIDS) into one red and white ribbon.

Noting that gender violence is symptomatic of a much deeper malaise- the inequality of women and men “from the bedroom to the boardroom” – Lowe-Morna said the time has come to start putting emphasis on the empowerment of women and changing societal attitudes rather than just the criminal justice system.

She said appropriating new information and communication technologies that have been used to degrade women and to fuel sex trafficking is “both about empowering women and having one big national dialogue aimed at changing attitudes.”

“While we hope this will not become a talk shop, what is clear is that there is still a lot more talking to be done,” the GL director said.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PHONE 082-651-6995 OR GO TO www.cyberdialogues.org.za. The chat room opens from 13.00 to 14.00 each day.