EDITORIAL | Sixteen days of activism are fine, but real changes must be made

We need to ask some honest questions about the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence campaign. SA has been one of more than 160 countries participating in this international campaign since its creation at a Women’s Global Leadership Institute event in 1991. It was started with the best of intentions and if ever there were a country that needed to participate, it would be SA. But ...  

This week, a day after #16DaysofActivism got under way, South Africans woke up to the grimmest of grim stories. An Eastern Cape mother and her five children – the youngest a six-month-old baby and the oldest 10 – had been axed to death in their home in Dabekweni in Kwaaiman. Police are searching for her husband in connection with the attack.

Police spokesperson Brigadier Tembinkosi Kinana probably summarised most South Africans’ sense of horror when he said: “It is inconceivable that just at the opening day of the 16 Days of Activism we can wake up to such a horrible and distressing incident. Whoever is behind these gruesome and heartless murders must be found without any delays.”

But as we know the SA justice system, finding him will not necessarily solve much.

Just ask Dries Venter, whose 25-year-old daughter, Andrea Venter, was stabbed 14 times, allegedly by Gerhard Jansen van Vuuren, who, after his arrest for her brutal murder, escaped to Brazil. He managed to do that because he had been released on bail. And he killed her, despite her securing a protection order against him. Now back in SA after four years on the run (Brazil authorities also let him slip through their fingers) he is set to appear in court again on Friday.

“The system failed and the protection order she got wasn’t executed,” her father told TimesLIVE in an interview ahead of his court appearance.

According to a recent Stats SA report on gender-based violence, one in five women experiences physical violence from her partner. Almost 50% of assaults are committed by someone close to the victim. These numbers are well-established facts, but here are the Stats SA findings that go to the heart of the matter: “The prevalence of physical violence was greater among less educated women than those with secondary education or higher” and “the prevalence of physical and sexual violence decreased with the wealth quintile”. 

One of the UN’s sustainable development goals is to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls by 2030”. This includes “eliminating all forms of violence against all women and girls”.

That goal has a tragic ring to it. The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence campaign ends on December 10. No doubt we will be reading more stories of violence against SA women in this time. Judged by our high GBV rates the campaign has made little impact. It might have increased awareness, but the fact is women and children are still being hurt or killed every day.

Unless we create a country where women are empowered through education and opportunity, there will be no end to the scourge. Unless we deal decisively with perpetrators, they will not even try to stop. We need a justice system that makes protection orders count and does not let murder suspects out on bail. Without a fundamental change to uplift and protect women, we can campaign for 16 days for years on end and there will be no change.