Hon Deputy Speaker, Ministers, members and also our special guests in the gallery, Minister, I would like to congratulate you on your appointment to office. I trust that our relationship will be a cordial one and that we will work together in the interests of women, children and persons with disabilities.
I'm convinced that we can put some action to the platitudes that have been uttered in the past year of inaction. Apart from expressing sympathy, we need to see action and change. The Ministry needs real leadership to promote the interests of women, who are still denied the rights that they are guaranteed by our Constitution and the many protocols that have been signed. We will hold the Ministry accountable for implementing a human rights culture, for gender rights are human rights.
A lot of women have improved in many ways but, 16 years into democracy, why do we still need the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children? While women rightly celebrate their new freedom, they do not feel liberated or empowered in every sphere of life. In their homes, as wives and daughters, domestic violence against women is far too common. In their neighbourhoods they are vulnerable to rape and attack, and when they turn to the police or to the courts for protection, their concerns are often shrugged off. Many victims of crime point out that they are victimised twice: first by the criminals and then by the criminal justice system.
The much acclaimed Victim's Charter was meant to take care of the needs of all victims, but government is failing to ensure that the rights are upheld. Women do not always have access to the special Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Units or victim support rooms.
There is a desperate need for psychologists and social workers at police stations, at courts and in communities to deal with the scourge of rape and abuse of women, children and babies. Not only are the victims traumatised, but also the families who witnessed the atrocities, as well as the police, doctors and nurses who have to deal with the indescribable scenes they have to witness. At eleven o'clock last night I heard of a three-month-old child that had been victimised and abused in the most horrendous way. I quote Colleen Lowe Morna of Gender Links, who said:
... we (need) to do much more to reach out to men who are imprisoned by the emotions that society, for whatever reason, has never allowed them to process.
Many of our families are dysfunctional and counsellors are needed. This cannot be left to the NGOs alone, who are already suffering from lack of funding. Government has to take financial responsibility for providing the funds to deal with the problems. So I appeal for more gender-sensitive budgeting.
The lack of maintenance payments is often a trigger for family violence. Why should women have to go to court to beg that fathers pay maintenance for their children? The courts are often grossly understaffed, and justice is not served.
I challenge all hon Ministers and members to behave with honesty, to set the example, to pay up and to encourage others to take responsibility for the children that they fathered. In a modern constitution there is no place for patriarchal attitudes that regard women as mere objects to be used at the pleasure of men.
Probably the single most important marker of a country's progress is how it treats its women. If its women have the same education as its men, and are given the same opportunities and status, the country will prosper and advance, but we need to break down the patriarchal attitudes for this to happen.
Finding a way to preserve traditional wisdom while promoting human rights is the challenge of our age.
Those are the words of Helen Zille.
I agree. Don't look away; act against violence! These 16 days serve as an important reminder of how far we still have to go. Let us put words to action. Let us not have T-shirts, let us not have caps, let us have ongoing action. Feasting is not enough; we need to work hard. Thank you. [Applause.]