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| | Location: News and Media | Nkonkobe launches men's forum to fight gender violence | |
Nkonkobe launches men's forum to fight gender violence |
• Credits or Article Source: Judy Ngoloyi
• Posted on: 13 December 2007, Last updated on: 13 December 2007
• Search for: Nkonkobe, men, forum, gender, violence
FORT BEAUFORT: Residents of Fort Beaufort andsurrounding areas braved the chilly and rainy weatheron 6 December 2007 and marched to the offices of thelocal magistrate to hand over their list of demandscontaining incidents of gender based violence andabuse of women and children, which is reported to berife in the area. This comes amid speculation that theNkonkobe Municipality is faced with high statistics ofgender based violence and domestic violence.
The Amathole District Municipality held an awareness campaign on the 16 days of noviolence against women and children campaign in Alice last year, however recentstatistics revealed that the area is still faced with such incidents. Numerous preparatorymeetings organized before the march this year on 6 December 2007 suggested an exitstrategy plan in establishing a Mens’ Forum in the area. The main objective of the forumis to ensure that gender based violence is dealt with vigorously throughout the 365 daysof the calendar year - and that it should be the eyes and ears of government.
After residents handed over their grievances to the local magistrate, they converged atFort Beaufort municipal offices and elected 21 members of the Nkonkobe Men’s Forum,which is expected to serve the three areas of Middledrift, Alice and Fort Beaufort.
Fourty year old Mgcini Kuse who is a member of the forum said this is a step in the rightdirection as they strongly feel they have been left out in many developmentalprogrammes. “We want to see to it that perpetrators of rape and abuse are locked behindbars and given long sentences. The time has come for them to realize that if you do thecrime, you also do the time,” said Kuse.
He said it had been a worrying factor to see a perpetrator walking scot-free after havingbeen involved in numerous rape cases and domestic violence in the area but now that theforum had been established that concern would hopefully be a thing of the past. Kuse alsourged women to be vocal about these incidents and to stop protecting their husbands andboyfriends as this had a negative impact on families.
The Mayor of Nkonkobe Local Municipality, Dumalisile Ngcuka, said it was quitepleasing to see so many people from different walks of life participating in the march.“People ,especially the men folk, have taken a firm stand against violence of women andchildren and this is something that needs to be commended. This initiative needs to betaken to the length and breath of our country,” said Ngcuka.
Ngcuka said judging from the reports in August – Women’s Month - it was clear thatNkonkobe experienced an unacceptably high level of incidents of abuse. “This is a hugechallenge; we cannot just fold our arms and do nothing when these incidents occur. Weare therefore committed as this municipality to reduce the incidents of abuse and todiscourage it wherever it occurs. It is an effort that will at the end of the day involvelocal churches”, said Ngcuka.
He encouraged the various communities to support the forum and to participate activelyin the shaping of their own destinies.
The ADM Portfolio Head of Community Liaison and Public Participation, Cllr NikelwaSinuka said Nkonkobe is the first of eight local municipalities under the jurisdiction ofADM to launch a Men’s Forum. Sinuka said ADM is planning to roll out this initiative tothe other seven municipalities in the district.
“The forum is going to educate other men about gender based violence, and will domonitoring and evaluation in their respective areas. The forum is going to meet on amonthly basis and give a comprehensive report to the Special Programme’s Unit [SPU]of Nkonkobe local municipality. Nkonkobe municipality will then submit that report toADM so that we can see whether it’s working well or not,” she said.
Sinuka said violence against women and children caused physiological and psychologicaltrauma. We are very glad to have real men who are involved in the fight against genderbased violence,” said Sinuka.
Receiving the petition from residents, the magistrate of Fort Beaufort district court, JohanJaquire said societies must play a role in curbing this kind of behavior. He added thatjustice cannot be served where communities are not involve; they need to stand up and bespeak out. He emphasized that they are doing everything in their power to see to it thatcases are finalized and perpetrators are brought to book.
Reacting to cases reported to be taking a long time to be finalized, Jaquire said most ofthe cases are withdrawn by victims and that poses a huge challenge to the justice systemthroughout the country. END
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