By Advocate Joyce Maluleke
Africa’s leaders are elevating the fight against gender-based violence on the continent to drive back this scourge. Work is underway to create a united front to accelerate actions to end violence against women and girls.
The 3rd AU Men’s Conference on Positive Masculinity in Leadership to End Violence against Women and Girls brought together stakeholders from across the continent to deepen our understanding of the drivers behind violence against women and girls in Africa.
The conference explored the extent to which current laws protect women’s rights and what interventions can be put in place to prevent violence and harmful social norms that lead to violence. This initiative is amongst the first in the world to mobilise commitments and actions at the highest political level to help turn the tide against violence suffered by women. It also sets concrete actions that AU member states can drive to keep women on the continent safe and support victims of violence.
The first two AU Men’s Conferences on Positive Masculinity in Leadership to End Violence against Women and Girls put forward ground-breaking interventions in the fight against this continental plight.
The first conference in 2021 led to the Kinshasa Declaration that outlined the right to reparation for survivors of conflict-related gender and sexual violence. The 2022 conference led to the AU Heads of State and Government adopting a historic decision to negotiate an AU Convention on Ending Violence against Women and Girls (CEVAWG).
Once implemented, CEVAWG will be the first continental legal instrument for the prevention and elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls. The work on CEVAWG demonstrates African leadership’s commitment to rid the continent of gender-based violence.
The conference coincided with our country’s own 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children which reminds us of our efforts as a nation to prevent abuse and to ensure a safer society for women and children.
The 16 Days campaign calls on all South Africans to come together to do more to prevent violence against women, support survivors of abuse and bring perpetrators to justice. Through our collective efforts, we can create greater awareness, and reduce the number of sexual offences and attacks on women and children.
Government has recently passed three new laws to strengthen the fight against GBVF and enhance the protection of victims of gender-based violence. These are the Sexual Offences and Related Matters Amendment Act, the Criminal and Related Matters Amendment Act and the Domestic Violence Amendment Act.
South Africans are encouraged to partner with the government to ensure these laws become a lived reality by taking action today and reporting perpetrators' acts of violence and abuse.
Abusers have no place in our communities and must be reported to your nearest police station or by contacting the toll-free Crime Stop number: 086 00 10111 or GBV command centre: 0800 428 428.
Change starts with each one of us and collectively we can end the scourge of women abuse and violence. The continental initiatives together with our actions at home will go a long way to the fight against the scourge of violence against women.
