The 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children is an annual international campaign that runs from 25 November, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to 10 December, Human Rights Day.
But despite this global campaign it is starkly evident that much more needs to be done to protect the most vulnerable members of society – not only women, but also children – against abuse that does not only leave physical but also mental scars.
The fact that South Africa is the country with the highest rate of gender-based violence, with 53% of women reportedly experiencing it, comes as no surprise when one looks at recent cases that made headlines, including that of the 16-year-old Deveney Nel.
Her body was found in a storeroom hours after she had been reported missing, after failing to show up for her lift from her school in Caledon to her home in Grabouw.
A 17-year-old fellow scholar was arrested for this murder a week later, hours after attending a memorial service for young Deveney.
On Friday (25 October), the court heard an application by the 17-year old’s attorney for him to be sent for psychiatric evaluation.
Eric Ntabazalila, the provincial spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), confirmed the case had been postponed to 6 November for judgment in the application.
GBV activists showed up in large numbers at the suspect’s first court appearance in the Caledon Magistrates’ Court to demand “Justice for Deveney Nel”.
A petition, with more than 1 400 signatures from supporters, calling for him not to be released on bail, to receive the harshest punishment should he be convicted, and for the accused not to be held in a place of safety for youths in conflict with the law, was also handed in to the court.
Tanya Bippert of 1 Billion Rising, an international organisation fighting for justice for victims of Gender-based Violence (GBV), also called for the revision of the Child Justice Act, stating that it protects juvenile suspects and perpetrators instead of victims.
She stated: “One of the things we need to do is to have the lawmakers go back to the Child Justice Act, because this act, which is supposed to protect Deveney Nel, is now protecting the alleged perpetrator.”
