21 November 2007

By Lesego Madumo

MOGALE City is gearing up to observe the annual campaign to stop violence against women and children, and it is urging its residents to act and not ignore the scourge of abuse.

The 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children raises awareness of abuse of women and children. It is endorsed by the United Nations (UN), and runs annually from 25 November - International Day of No Violence against Women - until 10 December. It includes International Human Rights Day on 10 December and World Aids Day on 1 December.

This year marks the 10th year that South Africa is taking part in the global campaign, and the eighth year Mogale City is participating. The campaign aims to challenge people who commit violence against women and children to change; to trigger men and boys to get involved in eradicating gender abuse; and to provide survivors with information about services and organisations that can help to minimise the effects of violence on their lives.

During the 16 days, the City will work with other stakeholders to host activities that rally behind the campaign.

It will kick-off at 9am on 23 November at Rant-en-Dal Community Church, with a church service held for victims of violence. On 27 November, there will be a workshop at Hekpoort on domestic violence for 50 men and women; it runs from 10am until 12pm. Another workshop will be held at Muldersdrift on Wednesday, 5 December from 10am until 12pm. Again it will only cater for 50 people.

A father and son march will take place from 10am on 6 December, starting at the Civic Centre and ending at the magistrate's court, where a memorandum will be handed over to the chief magistrate.

Michelle Berczynski, a City community upliftment practitioner or social worker, said it was important for the City to mark the campaign. "It is very important to mark the days because this is a national campaign … We have to involve our boys and men to prevent this scourge because violence is on the increase in this country."

Berczynski reiterated that it was important to inform and educate the community on such issues, and involve men and boys in helping to eradicate violence.

While the global campaign focuses on violence against women, South Africa added children because of the amount of child abuse in the country. Although it has an enviable Constitution that upholds women and children's rights, South Africa has high levels of violence against the two groups.

During the 16 Days campaign - and, ultimately, permanently - citizens are urged to stop violence that affects women and children. The national theme is Don't look away / Act against abuse.

To intensify the initiative, Mogale City is promoting self-defence training, prayer services, workshops on domestic violence and men's marches. The City has also formed close relations with the Child Protection Working Committee of the West Rand. Parties involved include the South African Police Service; the departments of Correctional Services, Education, and Social Services; and Teddy Bear Clinics; among others.

People can also pledge their support by signing the 16 Days Postcard and emailing it or posting it free of charge at any post office. Each card signed and collected will raise R1 for the campaign. Ecards are available at the the Mweb ecards website, while postcards can be collected at any post office or multipurpose community centre.

They can also send an SMS with the words "16 Days" to 31616. Each SMS will raise a further R5 for the campaign. All money raised will be forwarded to the Foundation for Human Rights, which will channel it to organisations that support survivors of violence and abuse.

There are prizes up for grabs in the SMS campaign.

Other ways of supporting the campaign:

• Donate money to organisations working to end violence against women and children by making a contribution to the Foundation for Human Rights;
• Check out the calendar and attend a 16 Days event;
• Check out the directory of helping organisations and volunteer some of your time and energy; or
• Join the online Cyber Dialogues around the campaign.

For more information contact Michelle Berczynski on 011 951 2000 or 084 620 2271.

Fight against abuse goes on