The activist organisation Women For Change (WFC) has criticised the government after the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) rejected a plea to classify gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) as a formal national disaster, saying the existing legal framework addresses the crisis.
WFC founder Sabrina Walter said she is disappointed.
“We are deeply disappointed and frankly, insulted, by a response so far removed from the brutal reality women in South Africa face every day. The NDMC insists GBVF cannot be classified as a disaster because there are ‘existing frameworks’ — but these are the frameworks that have failed us.”
The NDMC, while acknowledging the severity of GBVF, said the Disaster Management Act was never intended to address entrenched social problems, and the issue should be tackled through existing legislative instruments and strategies.
TimesLIVE
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