Whatshot
Ending crimes against women and children cannot be confined to 16 Days
Ending crimes against women and children cannot be confined to 16 Days
"Women are no longer rocks that you can strike and expect no response to the pain," says Carole Podetti-Ngono, Founder and Managing Director of the Valued Citizens Initiative.
Echoing the sentiments that followed the bout of femicide in South Africa in September 2019, Podetti-Ngono says: "You strike a woman she bleeds. You strike a woman, she dies. Wathint'umfazi wathin'umuntu. Women are human too."
South Africa launched its commemoration of 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children on November 25. This year's theme, 'Enough is Enough - 365 days to Gender-Based violence and Femicide' could not be more aptly put, says Podetti-Ngono, but it is not enough.
"The sad reality is that we only get a glimpse of what happens every day in our country. Every now and then there is a public flare up of the heinous crimes committed against fellow humans, the most vulnerable in our society, women and children, and run the risk of assuming this is all there is to it.
"Surely we cannot assume that 16 days is enough. Surely, we are evolved enough to know that a couple of public outcries won't do the trick, and evidently, we are wise enough to realise that the buck has to stop with us through prevention programmes," she says.
The issue of violence against women and children is a disregard for life, it is a societal suicide, says Podetti-Ngono. She says before we know it, there will be no one left to pass the baton to.
"Our young girls and boys come to us sharing the most horrendous stories. Abuse in the hands of people they trust. Worse still, is as a society, we haven't yet spoken about the fact that the crimes perpetrated on this group of people is not always by men, that women too, are capable of abusing children."
"If we are to truly talk post-16 days then we should make it count. Measures and strategies must be put in place way beyond just the upskilling of public service institutions. The family, as the backbone of any society, as well as schools as the places children spend most of their time, need to be part of the broader plan in fighting the inhumane acts committed on women and children in our country," Podetti-Ngono says.