Hon House Chairperson, hon Chief Whip, hon Minister and hon Deputy Minister, this is indeed a very important subject. Having peace in the home and community is more important than having money because if you have peace in the house, everything will be fine. The prevalence of gender-based violence in Southern Africa is very high. The World Health Organisation, the WHO, estimates that one out of every three women experience some form of violence at some point in their lives. This both reflects and reinforces the inequalities between women and men and often compromises the dignity of the affected parties.
The question we ask is: How many cases are not reported? The under- reporting of violent crime against women and children remains a serious concern. Violence against women is one of the most widespread human rights abuses and a key human security issue of our time. Emotional abuse is one of the worst forms of abuse and it must be stopped. Urgent steps must be taken to guarantee a woman's security by addressing violence and abuse in all its manifestations.
It is crucial that government recognises the important contribution and role of NGOs in raising the visibility and consciousness of gender violence and the ripple effects thereof. We therefore call on the government to make greater investments in the causes of NGOs to improve services to South Africans who are subjected to violence, especially during this time of the year.
Allow me to say - and I say this with all respect and all men need to listen now - that it is time that men take the lead and set an example by seeing women as equal partners. As men who are visionaries, cultivators and protectors, we must allow these characteristics to be the foundation of our relationships with women, whether it is in the household, workplace or society.
Let me just say this one thing: There is nothing in this world that is more beautiful than women. [Applause.] If you take women out of this world, you take beauty out of this world. So what I am saying today is that as men and as Members of Parliament, we really need to set an example. As fathers, we must be role models to our children. As fathers, we need to tell our sons that it is not good even to scream at a woman, or your sister, in the house, in order for us to build the future of this country. [Applause.]
Mrs N D SIKHOSANA (KwaZulu-Natal): Hon House Chairperson, the South African government has a plethora of sensitive laws and programmes and the 16 Days campaign is but one of them. Despite all these efforts, violence against women and children continues unabated. Violence against women and children permeates all sectors of our society and we therefore need to develop programmes to reinforce the existing ones.
The escalation of teenage pregnancies in schools has reached alarming proportions. We are also witnessing unacceptably high incidences of substance abuse, human trafficking, HIV and Aids - the list is endless.
More often than not the economic dependency of women on men keeps women in abusive relationships. It therefore becomes critical that we strengthen our efforts for women's economic empowerment by developing new strategies to mitigate the persistent challenges that prevent us from achieving our ultimate goal of creating a caring society that is based on a culture of human rights. The new strategies should also be linked to the relevant government oversight committees at all levels to periodically monitor, evaluate and review the effectiveness and sustainability of the programmes.
There is therefore a necessity to ensure that programmes with a human rights ethos cross-cut through all development activities and all spheres of government and civil society, with a special focus on local government, as part of our government's 2004 extension of the 16 Days campaign to 365 Days of Activism.
I would like to mention that I was quite happy to hear that hon Minister Lulu Xingwana had already set up the committee that I had in mind when I was writing this. She is already saying there is going to be some co- ordination. We need to commend you, Minister. You are a forward-thinking person. The chairperson, hon Magadla, then proposed in her input that the NCOP should play a critical role. I think that is also appropriate, because quite a number of proposals have come out today and I hope the NCOP, as challenged by hon Magadla, is going to put together the ideas and ensure that a programme comes out as a result. I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate our ANC-led government on hosting Cop 17. Climate change affects all of us in the world, especially the most vulnerable in our communities, who are the women and children. This has been witnessed in many parts of the developing world, such as the famine devastating experienced in the Horn of Africa. [Applause.]