WeeklySA_AdminMEN MUST STOP ABUSING WOMEN AND GIRLS
South African women – Black and White – have been at the forefront of resistance to acts of injustice perpetrated by the apartheid regime from the 1960s when they put their lives at risk by being active agents of change and social transformation.
This month, as we celebrate Women’s Month, South Africans are reminded to pay tribute to our brave mothers and sisters who played a significant role in the anti-apartheid movement by advocating for equality and freedom and defying apartheid laws that included the carrying of passes and forced removals.
It was on the 9th of this month in 1956 when nearly 20 000 black, Indian, white and coloured women, led by Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Albertina Sisulu and Sophia Williams – De Bruyn , marched on the Union Buildings in Pretoria to protest against the apartheid Pass Laws that humiliated and limited their movements and restricted them to their places of living and employment.
These women put themselves at risk of arrest, assault and even being killed by apartheid security forces when they marched and handed their petition to the secretary of the then Prime Minister, J.G. Strijdom who had refused to meet them.
This year’s Women’s Month commemoration is held under the theme: “Celebrating 30 Years of Democracy Towards Women’s Development” and marks the 68th anniversary of that historic march. While we take stock of the achievements and challenges that still faced the women folk in this country, it is sad that they are still subjected to the worst form of ill treatment by their husbands, children and criminals.
According to the 2nd Quarter Crime Statistics released by the police for 2023-2024, women and girls continued to bear the brunt of violent attacks in South Africa with a total 10516 rapes, 1514 cases of attempted murder and 14 401 assault cases in July, August and September last year. The rate of violence against women and girls in South Africa was among the highest in the world. The murder rate for women had increased from 10 murders per 100 000 in 2021 to 13 per 100 000 in 2023.
It is a shame that for all their gallant efforts in fighting injustices in this country, women are rewarded by being murdered, sexually abused and tortured by the very people who are born from their wombs. They are even killed by their partners who had promised them love and pledged before God to be with them until death.
While we pay tribute to the women who played a major role in the struggle for liberation in this country, we also – again – call on all men to stop abusing women and girls. They must stop using them as tools that can be tossed around and tortured at will. They must stop battering and killing defenceless women simply to prove a point.
Women are also human beings who deserve a right to live. As it is written, all violence is considered an offence against God and against humanity and real men are expected to protect, and not abuse, women.
