It is a pity that political parties use the debate on violence against women and children to score cheap political points and this in itself boils down to abuse of women and children, Dr. Pieter Groenewald, leader of the FF Plus says.
Dr. Groenewald said during the debate on sixteen days of activism against violence against women and children that it does not help to play the blame game and place the blame on others such as the police, political parties or social workers regarding this issue.
He said the question should rather be asked what the community is doing itself about to protect women and children against violence.
“Ask yourself whether you are setting an example of showing respect for women and children. This is the underlying problem in our community; there is no more discipline or respect for one another. If we want to solve the problem of violence against women and children we first have to ensure that we respect each other.
“There is unfortunately not a full picture of the extent of violence against women and children available to us. Statistics indicate that the number of sexual crimes amount to approximately 50 000 a year and that it is declining. It, however, does not paint a full picture.
“I submitted a question to the minister of Justice in this regard, and according to his reply, there were no less than 264 619 protection orders issued to women in the past three financial years.
“There is no specific crime category for family violence. Many times this violence manifests in assault cases, or in attempted murder cases, or in assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm cases. These statistics, therefore, contorts the true extent of violence against women and children.
I have already raised this issue with the portfolio committee on police that statistics should be broken up to give a clearer picture of the true extent of violence against women and children, and in particular family violence in South Africa. I have received positive support for this initiative.
“I, however, want to emphasise that every person, through introspection, should develop self-respect, because only then will you have respect for women and children,” Dr. Groenewald said.
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