Some activists attending the Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Summit have accused President Cyril Ramaphosa of not understanding the plight of sex workers.
Ramaphosa delivered the keynote address at the Summit in Midrand in the north of Johannesburg on Wednesday.
In October, a 21-year-old man was arrested after the discovery of six bodies believed to be those of sex workers in a building in Johannesburg.
Activists believe that legalising sex work would assist victims of gender-based violence to report instances of abuse to the police.
Delegate Katlego Rasebetse says their call for the decriminalisation of sex work has fallen on deaf ears.
Rasebetse says, “We made it clear that president, we have to take action on the declaration of sex work that neither mentioned in his presentation to say at least also sex workers are affected. He mentioned your LGBTI, your albinism and other vulnerable groups but it was not specifically directed to sex workers, who were murdered here in Gauteng.”
The National Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Shamila Batohi, has conceded that the criminal justice system is not able to solve the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide in South Africa.
Batohi has called for a multi-sectoral approach to what Ramaphosa has labelled a pandemic. She was speaking at the second Presidential Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Summit on Tuesday.
Multiple stakeholders are attending the two-day summit that aims to find solutions to the GBVF scourge.
This in response to mounting calls from women’s groups and civil society organisations for the government’s urgent intervention.
Over 800 women and close to 250 children were killed in South Africa from April to June this year.
Batohi says it’s time to look beyond the criminal justice system.
[PHOTOS]: 2nd Presidential Summit on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide #endGBVF #GBVFSummit2022#LeaveNoOneBehind 🇿🇦 pic.twitter.com/aOqUCQsZ9c
— Presidency | South Africa 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) November 1, 2022
[PHOTOS]: 2nd Presidential Summit on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide #endGBVF #GBVFSummit2022#LeaveNoOneBehind 🇿🇦 pic.twitter.com/XGGLEvC67B
— Presidency | South Africa 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) November 1, 2022
[RAPE] This is the country’s top 30 rape stations as reported in the most recent #CrimeStats reflecting crimes reported to the @SAPoliceService from April to June 2022. #GBVFSummit2022 #ENDGBV pic.twitter.com/dfsvFwls6F
— Lirandzu Themba (@LirandzuThemba) November 1, 2022
Our very own @ThandoGumedeZA 🙌 drawing attention on Private sector’s lack of accountability and funding challenges currently being experienced by @end_GBVF
A Force! A phenomenal woman 🙌 pic.twitter.com/shqA190ofI— #GBVFSummit2022 (@end_GBVF) November 1, 2022
#gbvfsummit2022
DAY 2 🙌YouTube link 👉🏽 https://t.co/f4uoL0LaXv
Yesterday’s (DAY 1) proceedings left most of the people with mixed feelings.
Government has to account for their poor leadership and accelerate the work that civil society provides for GBVF survivors and victims pic.twitter.com/4RMiodwj1d— #GBVFSummit2022 (@end_GBVF) November 2, 2022
