Everyone has a pivotal role to play in the fight against gender-based violence (GBV). Therefore, if people know of someone who is a victim of GBV they should make the conscious decision of intervening and reporting any form of abuse at their nearest police station.
This is the message of Paarl police and several other organisations, including Law Enforcement and firefighters, at the launch of this year’s 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children campaign at the Drakenstein Fire Station in Paarl on Monday (27 November).
Although the nationwide campaign stretches over 16 days, the Drakenstein Municipality this year again committed itself to this annual campaign, which it aims to use to shed light on the hardships faced by many women and children since the previous campaign.
Captain Louise du Plessis of Paarl Police Station led the proceedings and highlighted that although the annual campaign specifically focuses on women and children, one also has to take into account the number of men who are also victims of assault and abuse.
She said: “Statistics presented to Parliament on 25 July 2022 shows 11 175 men reported domestic violence to the South African Police Service over a one-year period. Assault to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH) accounted for over 8 000 of these reported cases. If one looks at these figures is it fair to say that only women are being abused? Absolutely not. Men are quite often also victims of domestic violence.
“When it comes to domestic violence, there is no distinction between male and female, except females are more likely to speak out than most men would.”
Du Plessis encouraged men to speak up and not subject themselves to societal norms.
“Most men believe there is this idea that exists in society that they are not expected to be subordinate and speak about what they’re going through. You have a voice, and you have the right to echo whatever it is that is being inflicted on you.”
She added that 51 683 South African women reported incidents of domestic violence between July 2022 and 25 July this year.
“Most of these were common assault cases. We have had cases of GBH where women were assaulted to the extent that they did not even want to go to work, and rather phoned in sick or say that they fell and hurt themselves. GBH cases accounted for 19 960 of these reported by women in this period.”
According to Du Plessis there is a possibility that these numbers may be much higher, as many cases are not reported.
She called on Drakenstein residents to take a firm stance against abuse and even report abuse that is inflicted on others.
Garine de Wet, a self-defence coach and mentor at the Titans Sports Academy in Paarl, was also at the launch and highlighted the importance of vigilance and situational awareness for personal safety.
“Most young people are always on their phones when walking in public,” she said. “It is so important to be aware of one’s surroundings, as that is the only way that you will easily spot danger approaching.”
De Wet did a self-defence demonstration that was specifically directed at women and how they can protect themselves when attacked.
This year’s 16 Days of Activism campaign will be observed from 25 November to 10 December.
