When will it stop?
The insane roller coaster of never-ending violence against women and children – the so-called weaker sex – if that is the case should they not be be protected?
Instead, they are battered and bruised or in worst case scenarios murdered in cold blood.
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Not a day goes by without headlines screaming of women murdered, most at the hands of their partners, people closest to them, who are meant to look out for their well-being.
In some cases, men and boys are also the victims of domestic and sexual violence.
However, in most instances women and girls bear the brunt of this brutality.
In our community, two cases stand out.
A woman was doused with thinners and set alight by her husband.
She suffered 70 percent of burns to her body and died a painful death in hospital.
In the second case, a woman was brutally beaten to death, also by her husband – his weapon of choice a hammer.
Both men received 20 years’ imprisonment for their crimes.
One can say, if they do the crime, they must do the time.
But it’s not as simple as that.
In the hammer incident – young children witnessed their mother being murdered by their father.
It’s not just the trauma of losing their mother but being traumatised for life, seeing their father commit the crime.
In this instance, those children have lost both sets of parents.
What will the future hold for them?
Will they be able to overcome the damage caused?
One can only hope that they do.
Every year, during the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) from November 25 to December 10 and Women’s Month in August, one is bombarded with being sensitised about GBV.
But what about the rest of the year – we are obviously okay with burying our heads in the sand.
And like an ostrich, our heads only pop up at certain times.
GBV is everyone’s problem and should be on our radar 365 days a year.
All should take a stand against this scourge which is decimating families and communities.
Speak out – silence could mean the death of someone whose life could have been otherwise saved.
If a friend or family member is an abusive situation – help them – sometimes they are too afraid to do so themselves.
You have every right to.
Don’t have regrets later.
Each quarter, Minister of Police, Bheki Cele releases the crime statistics.
Between July and September, figures revealed a drop in the number of sexual offences reported.
This means a 16.8 percent dip in crimes such as rape and sexual assault was recorded and an 18.8 percent decrease in the number of rape cases.
These statistics are based on cases reported to police and also as a result of police intervention.
What about the cases that go unreported?
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