Cape Town - The scourge of violence against women and children must be "exorcised" from South Africa, said Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Jeff Radebe.
He said while some women chose to turn a blind eye on abuse and others shirked it off because of their cultural attitudes - violence against women and children was an attack on the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.
Radebe, who was speaking at the launch of the 16 Days of Activism campaign at the OR Tambo Hall in Khayelitsha today, said abuse against women and children could not be tolerated.
"I want to tell you today that eradicating violence against women is among our core business as government," he said, adding that perpetrators must not be given any room to manoeuvre.
A recent survey by the department revealed that women who wanted to report abuse often had to wait three to four hours in police stations repeating the same story to several police officers.
The survey also revealed that medical examinations were held days later; that doctors rarely treated women for HIV or offered medical assistance and that women faced more risk of being raped when they walked back from hospital.
Radebe said further to this, when the case involved a partner or ex-boyfriend, many police officers discouraged women from laying charges.
In a bid to counter these incidents, the department has set up 54 Sexual Offences Courts with dedicated waiting areas away from the accused, while children are able to give testimony via closed-circuit television.
The minister also opened the 27th Thuthuzela Care Centre in Pietermaritzburg earlier this week. These centres link women who have been sexually abused to health workers, social workers and prosecutors.
The centres have been one of the most successful government programmes, said Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga, adding another one would be opening soon in KwaZulu-Natal.
She said women had been intensifying their efforts to make gender equality a societal issue.
"In these 16 days, we want to heighten attention around the problems of violence against women and children," said Motshekga, who added that the protection of women really needed to be a 365-day event.
Her appeal was followed by public testimony by a city woman who had been a victim of domestic abuse. The woman, who asked to remain anonymous to protect her children, spoke out about the 19 years of abuse she suffered at the hands of her husband.
"I've been abused in all ways possible - sexually, physically and financially," said the woman, who left her husband two months ago, when he began abusing her children.
She recounted one incident where her husband dragged her by her hair to the kitchen where he choked her until she blacked out. He then raped her before cleaning her off with a t-shirt.
She was now picking up the pieces of her life and was writing a book about her abuse.
Also speaking at the launch, the Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities Lulu Xingwana said it was the responsibility of all in the community to report incidences of abuse of women as well as children to police or social workers.
"The Children's Act in particular makes it illegal for someone not to do anything if they are aware of the abuse," said Xingwana.
Western Cape Minister of Social Development Patricia de Lille said her department would be running a campaign in the province during the 16 Days of Activism, to target those men that were not paying maintenance for their children.
De Lille, who estimated the value of defaults to be over R9.5 million, said her department together with the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development and would publish the names of the alleged defaulters daily.
Twelve roadblocks would also be set up in Western Cape for next 16 days to track down alleged defaulters.
Added to this De Lille said community development workers are out in community to help trace about 300 mothers who are not claiming disbursements - which totalled about R3 million.
