{"id":197697,"date":"2021-08-09T14:18:55","date_gmt":"2021-08-09T12:18:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/government-making-progress-in-the-fight-against-gbv-president-ramaphosa\/"},"modified":"2021-08-09T14:18:55","modified_gmt":"2021-08-09T12:18:55","slug":"government-making-progress-in-the-fight-against-gbv-president-ramaphosa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/government-making-progress-in-the-fight-against-gbv-president-ramaphosa\/","title":{"rendered":"Government making progress in the fight against GBV: President Ramaphosa"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

While violence against women remains a pandemic in South Africa, government continues to work tirelessly to fight the scourge against gender-based violence (GBV).<\/p>\n

\u201cJust as the women of 1956 fought against the injustices of their time, the women of today are engaged in a new frontier of struggle. It is a struggle for equal rights, dignity, economic liberation and freedom from violence,\u201d said President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday.<\/p>\n

Presidetn Ramaphosa was delivering this year\u2019s National Women\u2019s Day keynote address under the theme: \u201cThe year of Charlotte Mannya Maxeke: Realising Women\u2019s Rights\u201d.<\/p>\n

The President officially released the one-year progress report on the implementation of the National Strategic Plan (NSP), where the government worked with civil society to give effect to the six pillars of the plan.  <\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough the launch of the plan coincided with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have nevertheless made measurable progress.\u201d
 
Justice and support for survivors<\/strong>
As part of the work to provide justice and support to survivors of GBV, President Ramaphosa said 32 regional courts are now designated as sexual offences courts across the country.<\/p>\n

In addition, about 3 500 Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences investigating officers have undergone specialised training, while 12 public buildings have been renovated and repurposed to be used as shelters.<\/p>\n

The President said also work has been done to ensure that all police stations have sexual assault evidence kits.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been important legal reform as well. Key legislation around domestic violence, bail and the sentencing of offenders, as well as broadening the scope of sexual offences and other matters is currently before Parliament.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the First Citizen, South Africa\u2019s courts are now handing down harsh penalties and sentences to those found guilty of GBV and conviction rates in sexual offences cases have improved.<\/p>\n

In addition, he said government will soon approve the International Labour Organisation\u2019s Convention 190, which addresses sexual harassment and violence in the workplace.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the President said the GBVF Private Sector Response Fund, which was launched this year, has raised some R141 million in pledges.<\/p>\n

He has since called on businesses, donors, philanthropists and individuals to make donations, adding that government has allocated R21 billion over the next three years to support the six pillars of the NSP.<\/p>\n

Economic inclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to the President, a critical pillar of the plan is to ensure women\u2019s economic and financial inclusion.<\/p>\n

He believes that one the country can attain this is by creating procurement opportunities for women-owned businesses in the public sector supply chain.<\/p>\n

He reminded the citizens that government announced that 40% of public procurement should go to women-owned or -operated businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are calling on the private sector to make a similar commitment to enhancing the empowerment of the women of our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said a Women\u2019s Economic Assembly will be launched this month to identify the supply chain opportunities for women-owned businesses in key industries such as steel, automotive and energy sectors.<\/p>\n

Effects of COVID-19<\/strong><\/p>\n

President Ramaphosa acknowledged that the pandemic has been harsh on women and children.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen growth at the economic level stalls, when development is halted and when the economy loses jobs, we know that it is women who bear the brunt disproportionately.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said although the social and economic relief measures implemented last year provided much-needed support to women workers, small business owners and grant recipients, the levels of employment and income among women have not recovered as fast as their male counterparts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are therefore working to ensure that women benefit from the most recent relief measures and our Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Safer society<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough we have gone a long way to empower the women of our country, we still have much further to go. We want to live in a society where women feel safe and are safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he envisions a society where women can assume leadership positions in the workplace, community, government and all public institutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also want to live in a society where women\u2019s opportunities are not limited by social attitudes and practices or even by economic circumstances.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to live in a society where every girl child can study what she wants to study and for as long as she needs to, and where she can take up any occupation or pursue any career of her choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

He has called on South Africans to reject sexism in our homes, churches, schools, government and places of work.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet us together raise a new generation of men and women who understand that the rights and freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution belong to all, men and women alike.\u201d \u2013 SAnews.gov.za<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While violence against women remains a pandemic in South Africa, government continues to work tirelessly to fight the scourge against gender-based violence (GBV). \u201cJust as the women of 1956 fought against the injustices of their time, the women of today are engaged in a new frontier of struggle. It is a struggle for equal rights, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":197698,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[38678],"class_list":{"0":"post-197697","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-south-africa","8":"tag-sanews","9":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/government-making-progress-in-the-fight-against-gbv-president-ramaphosa.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197697\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}