Cape Town – The Presidential Summit Declaration against Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) is with the Interim Steering Committee against GBVF, which is co-chaired by the Presidency and civil society.
So said Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development John Jeffery at NPO Ilitha Labantu’s international conference, which has brought together civil society and government under the theme “Ensuring Equal Access To Justice for Victims Of Violence Against Women And Girls - Rule Of Law In Action”.
The three-day conference at the Cape Town International Convention Centre is focusing on targeted interventions to efficiently ensure equal access to justice for victims of violence.
“The roll-out of immediate measures in the next six months to fast-track a more medium-term approach to addressing GBVF was made a priority and an Emergency Response Action Plan was announced in Parliament in October.
"The plan focuses on improving access to justice for survivors of violence, and prevention campaigns to change attitudes and behaviour.
“The responsible government departments have together reprioritised R1.6 billion for the plan to be resourced and implemented,” Jeffery said.
"Jeffery also announced that the process to review the Domestic Violence Bill has started, a move welcomed by Ilitha Labantu founder and president Mandisa Monakali.
UN Women SA multi-country office representative Anne Githuku-Shongwe said considering data collected since the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action, there was a lot more that could be done to advance women’s rights.
The Beijing Platform for Action was set up in 1995 to set strategic objectives and actions for the achievement of gender equality.
It flagged 12 critical areas of concern where urgent action was needed, which include violence against women. It also laid out concrete ways for countries to bring about change.
The plan’s achievements will be looked at next year, she said.
“There has been progress in some areas, and very little progress in others.
“We’ve managed to identify violence against women as one of the areas where a lot of work needs to be done. The idea is to have an Action Coalition that would focus on a particular issue like ending violence against children and women.
"This would be lead by the head of state who will need to show strong actions towards ending violence against women and children.
"For instance President (Cyril) Ramaphosa could become the champion for the Action Coalition, ending this violence and mobilising other heads of states.”