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Rooting out abuse of women, kids By cLairE MaTHiEsOn
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WOMAN is raped in South Africa every 17 seconds. Some 54 926 rapes were reported in 2006. Of the 22 121 reported cases that went to court, only a fifth resulted in the conviction of the accused. In Gauteng alone, 15 645 sexual crimes have been recorded this year, and 356 children were reportedly harmed in the Eastern Cape. Such statistics from the South African Police Services are the driving force behind the annual 16 Days of Activism Campaign on No Violence Against Women and Children campaign, which begins on November 25. The international event was adopted by the South African government to make people aware of the negative impact of violence on women and children. The event helps increase awareness of abuse and builds support for victims and survivors of abuse. The government has highlighted the needs of women and children in the country and is striving towards reducing the negative statistics. Several pieces of legislation have been written into the country’s Constitution including international cooperation in addressing challenges of violence against women and children. Following the murder of ten people in three families in Shongweni and Mariannhill, KwaZulu-Natal, minister for Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities Lulu Xingwana said it was the “most brutal” crime committed against women and children seen in recent time. Speaking to reporters, she described the act as “barbaric” saying that “we should all ensure that it never happens anywhere else in our country”. Ms Xingwana said the 16 Days of Activism campaign was important as it “brings together various government departments and civil society organisations in an effort to mobilise all of our society to act against abuse of women and children”. The campaign, which was started in 1991, will take on the 2010 theme “Score a goal for gender equality: Halve gender based violence by 2015”. The minister noted that gender activists (such as Genderlinks), faith-based organisations as well as members of civil society and government are leading the fight against the abuse of women and children, but emphasised the need for all communities to get behind the effort. Dawn Linder of the Justice and Peace (J&P) desk of the archdiocese of Johannesburg said there is a real need for campaigns like the 16 Days of Activism to be observed.
“Every day we see examples of abuse in our newspapers. The issue is obvious, and it’s obvious that something needs to be done”. However, Ms Linder said the dialogue should not just be limited to a two-week period. “This needs to be spoken about all the time”. According to the Genderlinks website (www.genderlinks.org.za), the organisation aims to take the campaign beyond big cities and hopes to reach remote areas that are “usually marginalised and left out of such campaigns”. The start of the 16 Days of Activism campaign coincides with the International Day of No Violence Against Women and Children. It covers with World Aids Day on December 1, the International Day for the Disabled on December 3, the anniversary of the Montreal Massacre—where 14 female engineering students were gunned down by a man because they were feminist—as well as International Day for the Disabled on December 6, and will end with Human Rights Day on December 10. Ms Xingwana said one of the key events of the campaign would be held in KwaZuluNatal on December 10 to ensure that “we mobilise the community of this province to act against abuse of women and children”. The minister said the campaign will “emphasise the obligation that all of us have to report cases of abuse, to assist the police and social workers in their investigation and to be available to act as witnesses in court to increase probability of a conviction”. While the Catholic Church is not directly involved in the campaign, Ms Linder said the Church had not limited its dedication to the time frame of 16 days. “The Justice and Peace department of the [Johannesburg archdiocese] works with the parishes and other organisations” beyond limited time frames. J&P seeks to help “people who come to us from off the street. We help wherever we can”. Ms Linder said more needed to be done by everyone involved. “Women need to be regarded, promoted and developed consciously. We need to be aware of the situation women are in.” She said the efforts exerted over the 16 day period need to be extended throughout the year. The government is encouraging people to get involved by wearing a white ribbon, volunteering at community-based projects and non-governmental organisations—and most importantly to speak out against abuse of women and children.
Bishop: corruption causes poverty By Francis njuguna
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HE archbishop of Burkina Faso questioned why poverty persists across Africa despite an abundance of natural resources during the opening session of a conference for African theologians on ethics, ecclesiology and evangelisation. Archbishop Anselme Sanon of BoboDioulasso, Burkina Faso, said in an interview that he was saddened to see the continued exploitation of the continent’s natural resources in the face of dire human needs. Prior to the wave of independence in the 1950s and ’60s, “our economic saboteurs
were colonialists”, the archbishop said. “Some of our new leaders have continued to undertake the same bad mission”. Archbishop Sanon attributed current difficulties to corruption and the mismanagement of natural resources by political leaders. “One of the challenges of the African continent as she marked its 50 years of independence is to make every effort to stamp out corruption, mismanagement and other practices that went against the pastoral teaching of the Church,” Archbishop Sanon explained. The Church can play a role in overturning corruption and exploitation by stressing its social teaching, he said.—CNS
an activist lights a candle during an aids awareness campaign in agartala, the capital of india’s north-eastern state of Tripura. To mark World aids Day on December 1, we look this week at the state of HiV/aids in south africa today and the catholic response. (Photo: jayanta Dey, reuters/cns)
Sentenced to go on a pilgrimage By MicHaEL KELLy
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N Irishman who was promised by a judge that he would be spared time in prison if he undertook a religious pilgrimage and said “a few prayers” has completed the task and raised about R30 000 for charity in the process. Joseph McElwee had been convicted of drunken behaviour and verbally abusing a police officer and faced a prison sentence. However, in March, Judge Seamus Hughes came up with a novel opportunity for Mr McElwee to avoid prison time and ordered him to climb Ireland’s holiest mountain, Croagh Patrick in County Mayo. Having competed his sentence, Mr McElwee reported to the court and showed Justice Hughes photographs of himself and 13 friends on top of the roughly 760m mountain where St Patrick fasted for 40 days in the 5th century. At the time of his conviction, the judge said: “I want you to come back with evidence that you did the four stations of Croagh Patrick and say a few prayers. You then might have a different impression of County Mayo and its people.” The police officer whom Mr McElwee insulted grew up near the mountain.
Mr McElwee told the judge he regretted what he had done and had managed to raise money for charity during the climb. Justice Hughes asked if he had found climbing the mountain therapeutic and Mr McElwee agreed that he had. “I hope that when you come out of a pub in the beautiful village of Rathmullan in future, you take in a deep breath of fresh air from nearby Lough Swilly and you will appreciate that gardai [police] are there for your own protection,” the judge said. He ordered half of the cash to be given to a local hospice and the other half donated to an adult mental health services programme. He also asked Mr McElwee to write a note to be included with the donations explaining the circumstances surrounding the donations. While community service orders are common for less serious offences, it is believed to be the first time that an Irish judge ordered someone to undertake a pilgrimage in lieu of a prison sentence. The judge’s initiative at keeping someone out of prison may prove popular with the cash-strapped Irish government, which is considering R60 billion in cuts to public spending.—CNS