27 Feb 2020

Statistics indicate that Good Hope sub-district was number two in gender based violence prevalence after Sowa township.

Speaking during a two-day workshop on Wednesday, at the Big Valley Lodge, hosted by the Department of Gender Affairs, principal gender officer, Mr Lentswe Motsamai indicated that men were the main victims of emotional abuse while physical abuse was prevalent among women.

Further, he said women and girls in the district were experiencing forms of GBV such as marital rape and child marriage.

In order to curb the trend, Mr Motsamai encouraged NGOs at the workshop to mentor a girl child and support women in education, leadership, political and decision making positions.

When making a comment, Diphalana Empowerment Centre coordinator Mr Paul Englishman said women were reluctant to take advantage of local committees that can empower them such as Village Development Committee and at times did not support one another, but would rather endorse male candidates into political positions.

He added that cultural practices were a barrier for women to participate in societal issues in a kgotla set up and due to stringent cultural norms, women especially the youth, did not attend such fora as they were restricted to wearing dresses.

Assistant principal officer at District AIDS Coordinator’s office, Mr Kennedy Dintwe, said teenage pregnancy was also prevalent in the district.

“We have carried out research and boys in junior secondary schools have admitted to engaging in sexual acts without using condoms. HIV/AIDS is therefore unlikely to be reduced,” he said.

He said the district gender committee had collaborated with schools to sensitise students on the negative effects of sexual acts at young age.

Good Hope police station had registered three GBV-related cases since January and 80 from October to December last year.

Detective Constable Thabang Mpudi of Good Hope police stated that they were having difficulties in investigating gender based related crimes such as murder cases due to disturbed crime scenes.

“It is important to preserve physical evidence and leave the crime scene undisturbed to allow for easy investigations except in situations where the victims need immediate medical assistance,” she said.

She further encourage parents to report suspicious incidents of defilement in time.

In closing, Kgosi Oagile Kepadisa of Pitsane indicated that such fora were important in building the community and that parents must play a role in their children’s education and not leave the responsibility to teachers.

He also indicated that GBV cases were prevalent in the village and appreciated efforts by gender department in addressing such issues. ENDS