​Last Friday – the Gauteng Social Development West Rand Region hosted 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children campaign at Chief Mogale Hall in Kagiso, West Rand.
16 Days Campaign is a recognized by the United Nations campaign and takes place annually from 25 November to 10 December. During the 16 days period, government together with civil society and the private sector host a series of community and sector dialogues to foster efforts in dealing with GBV and Femicide.

During the campaign, Social Work Supervisor, Mpho Mokoena said given the scourge of Gender Based Violence (GBV) in the country is GBV was declared a national pandemic and government is implementing the National Strategic Plan on GBV and Femicide which was signed by the President in March 2020”.

“The department saw the necessity to host this event with the aim to intensify levels of awareness and education in communities regarding violence against women, children, and other vulnerable groups. We invited various stakeholders to ensure that you know exactly what to do if you experience abuse or someone next to you” said Mokoena.

Thandiswa Mtshengu from Carltonville shared her story of abuse at hands of her boyfriend. She said it started in 2013, “He assaulted me while I was seven months pregnant and threatened to kill me. At the time, he was not working, and I was the only one putting food on the table. But that meant nothing to him. I even had to seek a protection order against him. He continued being abusive until 2019, when I said enough is enough after he assaulted me badly. I reported the matter to the police, and he was arrested. The case was finalized last year, October and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. I am pleading with you, to never endure abuse”.

Various reports indicate that several women remain in abusive relationship because they do not have any source of income and are dependent on the abusers. The Department says there are alternatives.

Boitumelo Lebelo from Department’s Sustainable Livelihood unit indicated that their unit ensures that women and youth are exposed to economic and employment opportunities to achieve sustainable livelihood. They further assist women to establish school uniform manufacturing cooperatives and the department buys school uniform from them. The unit also offer skills development training through NPOs.

“By so doing we can protect women from abuse because some endure abuse due to dependency from the perpetrators. As a Department, we can assure you that we always are there for you and please make use of the information we gave out today”, Lebelo said.