The Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Department has launched its 16 Days of Activism campaign for No Violence Against Women and Children, at the Johannesburg Expo Centre, in Nasrec.
This year’s campaign focusses on both the social and economic empowerment of women.
The objective is to break the bonds of economic dependency of women who are forced to stay in abusive relationships.
The department’s Director-General, Mikateko Maluleke says, “Today the theme focusses on pillar five of the National Strategic Plan on gender-based violence and femicide. You know that the President launched the NSP on GBV so pillar five focusses on economic power, so we’ve realised that women will not walk away from the abuser if they are not economically empowered.”
“So the first focus is to empower women to walk away, but secondly, it is to empower women as women who are also supposed to be involved in businesses. Government always speaks about empowering women, however, even if you involve women in manufacturing, if you don’t create the market for women to go and sell their products they still end up poverty-stricken, sitting there with all that.”
The launch of 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children campaign at Nasrec:
Umlazi
To mark the start of the 16 Days of Activism campaign, KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube will spend the day visiting various places in Umlazi, as the township has been identified in the latest crime statistics as one of the top 10 rape hotspots in the country.
Dube-Ncube will also visit the Umlazi GG Police Station and Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital Thuthuzela Care Centre which is a one-stop facility for survivors of sexual assault, gender-based violence and domestic violence.
VIDEO: SABC NEWS reporter Vusi Khumalo has more on the story:
