Increasing incidents of violence towards women and children, has prompted the Limpopo legislature to convene a summit in Polokwane to seek solutions to the problem.
Delegates include members of civil society, non-profit and faith-based organisations.
There have been numerous incidents in which women and children were raped or killed in the province during the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children campaign.
Deputy Speaker of the provincial legislature Jerry Ndou, “The scourge of violence against women and children have gone out of hand and we have got to work with everyone to find a way in which we can be able to tighten loopholes where they are and make sure that those who commit such acts are really punished heavily. We are grateful that there are several measures that have already been taken, the sexual courts, the training of police, in particular, the issue of sexual violence act. To us, that indicates that we are moving in the right direction.”
In the latest incident, a two-year-old toddler was allegedly snatched from her home and raped in Lulekwani township outside Phalaborwa in Limpopo.
Police say the incident allegedly happened while the mother of the toddler was asleep.
Sharon Makhale from Child Welfare South Africa says they have realised that there’s no focus on how boys are being raised.
“We must make sure that when it comes to this issue of women and child abuse, we don’t only do it on 16 days of activism or on Women’s Day. This must be a continuous thing, which is done daily. So this must start with the father figures, who respect and value women. We must make sure that we do different campaigns, which involve young boys, to be able to respect young girls. We will be able to reduce violence.”
