Kwa-Thema – Gender-based violence (GBV) activist Refiloe Charmaine took to the streets of Tsakani, Kwa-Thema and Springs to urge victims of GBV to speak out and report their abusers.
She was speaking in response to the recent national crime stats released by minister of police Bheki Cele.
The stats revealed an alarming amount of rape and sexual violence cases were reported at the Tsakani Police Station.
The report paints crimes that were committed and reported from October to December.
The station reported 53 cases of sexual offences with a slight increase from the previous 52 from the previous quarter.
Also read: Police speak out against GBV
Forty-two cases of rape were reported, seeing a decrease of eight cases from the 50, which were reported in the previous quarter.
Refiloe said if victims don’t speak out they are only allowing the perpetrator to continue defiling more women and children.
“We cannot continue witnessing more women and children from this community being abused.
“These stats are a reflection of the kind of community we live in and if we all turn a blind eye nothing will change.
“The time to speak out is today.
“It doesn’t matter when the abuse happened, report them to the police and allow the law to take its course,” she explained.
