Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Deputy Minister, Steve Letsike, says power relations between men and women contribute to violation of women.
Letsike said men have been conditioned to feel entitled to women’s time, labour, bodies and more.
“There is no competition between men and women, but men have to understand that they do not have the right over women’s bodies, that must be understood. You can be partners, you can share equality, you can share finances, but there is nothing that justifies having to violate another person, especially women… it is criminal in our country,” Letsike said.
The Deputy Minister was reacting to tthe first South African National Gender-Based Violence Prevalence Study: A Baseline Survey on Victimisation and Perpetration report conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC).
The study released on Monday, revealed that about 7 310 389 million women, aged 18 years and older, have experienced physical violence in their lifetime.
READ | Over seven million women have experienced physical violence, study reveals
Letsike encouraged all South Africans to do better by reporting violence against women.
“We have a big task. We cannot fail women of this country, not 30 years later… we can do better. We have to enhance and strengthen our monitoring and accountability mechanism. We are also going to integrate our gender-based violence (GBV) intervention into broader social policies, not forgetting some of the correlation of HIV, and [also] look at some of the economic equality including the gaps in education that is also linked to the drivers of violation,” Letsike said.
Letsike also underscored the importance of science in addressing societal challenges.
“We need to make sure that science is for the people, [and] we need to make sure science does not leave people behind, because, if communities own this, we will translate this data to make sense to our communities.”
She said the study is not just data, but a lifeline for South Africa.
“We must not only raise awareness but also foster prevention, support survivors, and hold perpetrators accountable. Let us commit to turning data into action, to developing responsive and survivor-cantered interventions, and to dedicating resources that match the scale of the problem.”– SAnews.gov.za
