Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu says the rights of women and girls to live free from violence depends on the protection of their human rights and a strong accountability, coordination and leadership.

The Minister said that violence against women and girls is an extreme manifestation of toxic masculinities, gender inequality and systemic gender-based discrimination

Zulu was delivering a keynote address at the Indaba of the National Shelter Movement of South Africa held in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

“The South African Government has ratified a number of international and regional gender-related conventions and treaties, and has developed and reviewed several GBV-related laws, policies, and plans.

“These include strengthening the capacity of the criminal justice system and introducing new pieces of legislation to ensure a victim- and survivor-centred responsive criminal justice system and care and support services,” she said.

Minister Zulu explained that the 2019 – 2024 National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide is meant to accelerate the whole-of-government and the whole-of-society efforts to enhance responsiveness in all dimensions.

Founded on the inaugural Presidential Summit on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide, the National Strategic Plan provides for a coordinated and strong action-oriented plan that is based on six pillars for all partners in the sector.

Zulu said her portfolio is responsible for the implementation of pillar four among the six.

“This pillar enjoins us to deliver programmes that speak to response, care, support and healing. To these programmatic categories I must add the empowerment of survivors because this is the missing element that is necessary for women to break free from the imminently-deadly vicious cycle of abuse,” the minister said.

The Minister lauded shelters for playing a crucial role in providing a safe space for survivors of gender-based violence long before the National Strategic Plan came into place.

Social Development is government’s lead department in providing the much-needed financial support to organisations that assist survivors of abuse across the country.

In the current financial year, the Minister said, the national and provincial departments of Social Development have allocated a sum of R200 million to support organisations that are rendering shelter services.

She said an additional R100 million will be allocated in the next financial year so that organisations can continue to provide the desperately needed care and support services.

“We will continue our close collaboration and support to civil society organisations that provide essential services to victims and survivors of gender-based violence so that you can retain the means in place to support and empower the survivors of gender-based violence.

“We will also continue working with and empowering survivors who suffer multiple and intersecting forms of violence with the intention to empower them and to ensure that their lived experiences are taken into consideration in the development of responsive policies and programmes,” the minister said.

The Minister told the Indaba that government is making positive progress in the implementation of the key recommendations of the inaugural indaba and in addressing policy gaps that were identified by the Commission on Gender Equality.

On the legislative front, she said the department is awaiting the final instructions from the Office of the State Law Adviser before they take the Victim Support Services Bill back to Parliament for processing.

The Bill seeks to uphold the rights of the survivors of gender-based violence by way of placing them at the front and centre of the criminal justice system.

“While others argue that legislation alone is not enough to address the challenge of gender-based violence, I strongly believe that this Bill will make a significant contribution to the work of civil society organisations that provide support services to the survivors. On this note, I would like to commend you all for your invaluable contribution to the development of this Bill,” Zulu said.

As part of the department’s wider initiatives to support the survivors of gender-based violence, Minister Zulu said they strive to improve the psycho-social support services that they are rendering through the Gender-Based Violence Command Centre.

The centre is providing a 24/7 toll free line that is dedicated to providing trauma counselling services and is equipped with geolocation services to enable quick referral services and the Skype line to assist the deaf community.

Source: South African Government News Agency