Victims of abuse urged to speak out

File photo: Thobile Mathonsi

File photo: Thobile Mathonsi

Published Nov 25, 2015

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Johannesburg - Violence against women and children is a big and persistent problem in this country. This is according to Lisa Vetten from the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research, who urged victims of abuse to speak out.

Vetten said this on Tuesday on the eve of the launch of the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children campaign. The campaign will be launched in various parts of the country by government departments and organisations.

President Jacob Zuma was due to launch the campaign in Mahikeng, North West, on Wednesday to mark the beginning of the annual campaign.

Vetten urged victims of violence to speak out, saying that if they were scared to do so, they should contact any organisation dealing with such issues.

“We should not force them to speak out if we are not going to give them adequate help.”

Vetten said their particular focus this year was on those who provide care for victims of violence against women and children.

“We want to talk about the care and the quality of services provided by government departments and organisations,” she said.

“We’ve chosen this out of a real sense that the quality of services is stagnating and, in some instances, even declining. Uncaring responses compound the original harm by giving victims of violence the message that they don’t matter.”

Vetten added they were going to issue scorecards this month to various government departments that deal with woman and child abuse. The scorecard is used to assess if the government has improved the services since the previous year.

Vetten said Wednesday’s focus would be the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, which deals with sexual offences, because it had made the most progress in improving services to rape victims over the past year.

LoveLife said that during the 16 Days of Activism it would align itself with the Department of Social Development’s theme “Count Me In: Together Moving a Non-violent South Africa Forward”.

LoveLife, a youth leadership development organisation, encourages young people to speak up and be part of the fight against all forms of violence against women and children in their schools, communities and families.

“We are compassionate to women and children affected by violent crimes.

“To this effect, loveLife together with its partners - the Department of Social Development, the Department of Health and the Department of Sport and Recreation and others - offers among its programmes psychosocial support to parents and youth in need of information, support or advice during the 16 Days of Activism and throughout the year,” said chief executive Dr Lebo Maroo.

South Africans are urged to wear a white ribbon during the 16-day period.

A white ribbon is a symbol of peace and symbolises the commitment of the wearer never to commit or condone violence against women and children.

solly. [email protected]

The Star

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