MyPE

Community Business Directory, Event Listings, News and Views from Gqeberha, Nelson Mandela Bay

MISA Calls On Government To Elevate GBV To Crisis Status – MyPR.co.za

By

MISA Calls On Government To Elevate GBV To Crisis Status:

“We are deeply concerned that gender-based violence is spinning out of control,” says Martlé Keyter, MISA’s CEO: Operations.

And as a trade union that represents more than 50 000 members in the retail motor industry, MISA is calling on President Ramaphosa to escalate this scourge to disaster status.

This comes after a spate of horrendous crimes against women in South Africa.

As Tshegofasto Pule was laid to rest last Thursday, after she had been found stabbed and hanging from a tree in Roodepoort, protestors in Dobsonville found the body of another young woman – she also had been stabbed several times – under a tree on Friday.

Meanwhile, young Naledi Phangindawo was stabbed to death in Mossel Bay last week Saturday and, in Belhar on the Cape Flats, detectives are investigating a case of a double murder following the discovery of the bodies of a mother, Altecia Kortjie (27), and her daughter, Raynecia Kortjie (7).

And more such cases surface daily.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” notes Keyter. “In 2017/18, a woman was murdered every three hours in South Africa. We do not have more recent statistics, but if we look at what is happening now, this number is anything but decreasing.”

The Department of Social Development’s (DSD) GVB Command Centre has, for the 2020 calendar year-to-date (January to May 31), received a staggering 49 455 calls, of which 2 004 are GBV-related.

“Compared with 87 092 for the full year of 2019, of which 1 846 were GBV-related, the trend is alarming.

“We also know that GBV-related cases are under-reported, so this is certainly not the true extent of the problem in South Africa,” says Keyter.

“Women are being murdered, attacked, raped and victimised. These women are mothers, carers, companions, bread-winners and economic contributors who have just become statistics.”

Keyter says government’s response to the threat of Covid-19 proves that, with the right focus and attention, South Africa is able to respond to a crisis.

“GBV is a crisis in South Africa and a pandemic that has cost many more lives than the COVID-19 pandemic, with potentially countless more. We need real action now – not only from the highest level, but also at all levels of our society,” she notes.

In addition, MISA is calling on the retail motor industry to stand together and start to take real action to curb gender-based violence in the workplace, as well as the industry-wide ratification of the ILO’s Convention 190 (C190), aimed at preventing and addressing violence and harassment in the world of work, including gender-based violence and harassment.

“If we stand together, we can make a difference,” Keyter concludes.

#MISACares #RatifyC190 #GBV

MISA is calling on the retail motor industry to stand together and start to take real action to curb gender-based violence in the workplace, as well as the industry-wide ratification of the ILO’s Convention 190 (C190). Photographer: ILO

Video: MISA CALLS ON GOVERNMENT TO ELEVATE GBV TO CRISIS STATUS

More Info on MISA CALLS ON GOVERNMENT TO ELEVATE GBV TO CRISIS STATUS here: https://www.misa.org.za
Twitter:
Facebook:

CLICK HERE to submit your press release to MyPR.co.za.

Source: MyPR.

The following two tabs change content below.

Port Elizabethan

This author is a 'catch-all' for occasional articles and letters written to MyPE. The Author of each article can be found in the signature at the bottom of each individual article.