Each year for 16 days from 25 November to 10 December many countries in the world bring the plight of battered women and children to the notice of the public – 16 Days of Activism Against Abuse of Women and Children. In South Africa this is probably more esssential and poignant than anywhere else.
Statistics may seem boring to some and to others are just that – statistics. Why should we care? I agree that many sets of statistics seem to be lists of figures about which we can do nothing or do not seem to have a direct relevance to us so we skim over them. Others, such as those describing violence we choose to ignore because it seems to awful to think about and here in SA we have become almost immune to it. As I need to keep this brief and to the point I shall only mention here that 1 in 6 women in South Africa is abused by her partner with at least 1 in 4 having to flee to a place of safety. South Africa, I am ashamed to admit, has the worst record of baby & child rape in the world. For more statistics to open your eyes and mind to this shocking situation go to the Soul City website from which I found these few figures.
Each year for 16 days from 25 November to 10 December many countries in the world bring the plight of battered women and children to the notice of the public – 16 Days of Activism Against Abuse of Women and Children. In South Africa this is probably more esssential and poignant than anywhere else.
Statistics may seem boring to some and to others are just that – statistics. Why should we care? I agree that many sets of statistics seem to be lists of figures about which we can do nothing or do not seem to have a direct relevance to us so we skim over them. Others, such as those describing violence we choose to ignore because it seems to awful to think about and here in SA we have become almost immune to it. As I need to keep this brief and to the point I shall only mention here that 1 in 6 women in South Africa is abused by her partner with at least 1 in 4 having to flee to a place of safety. South Africa, I am ashamed to admit, has the worst record of baby & child rape in the world. For more statistics to open your eyes and mind to this shocking situation go to the Soul City website from which I found these few figures.
With the number of women and children who need to seek places of safety it is sad that there is such a shortage of these in our country and, of those that I can find on the internet, none is sponsored by the government. I live in KZN and the only one of which I am aware (and could locate) is the Open door Crisis Centre in Pinetown. Reading their pages or listening to some of the stories told by Thora Mansfield is sure to stir your heart.
One further thing which comes to mind is what happens when these women and children die. Do they just become statistics given a pauper’s funeral (pg 29 of my book)? This can happen if they have been abandoned. What we need to remember is that every person is someone’s child, brother or sister; someone’s mother, aunt or grandmother and yet there are people who are callous enough to abuse physically, emotionally and/or sexually and then even to abandon them. It is for this reason that those who care have introduced the 16 days of activism.
Enough then of statistics and information. These are 16 days of ACTIVISM! and I am calling on every person who reads this blog to make a conscious decision to do SOMETHING during this time. If you go to the site where there is a calendar you can see for yourself what the ideas and plans are for 2012. You can do something as simple as liking their Face book page to listening to and participating in radio talk shows, helping at a place of safety, visiting someone whom you know to be in an abusive situation etc. All we ask is that you do not do nothing. It is only if we all, men & women and children too, get involved that we might be able to win this awful ‘war’.
If you live in Durban one practical way to be involved is to be part of the Garden of Peace and Healing being organised by the eThekwini Department of Parks and Gardens. If nothing else, visit the show in the Botanic Gardens during the 16 days though supplying materials or even helping make the ‘flowers’ could be truly satisfying. Another very easy way to show your support for abused women and children is to be part of the Thursdays in Black campaign, details of which can also be found on the same website or on the Diakonia site. It involves no more than wearing a button and dressing in black to some degree on a Thursday.