Activists against women abuse staged a silent protest while President Cyril Ramaphosa was delivering his keynote address at the gender-based violence and femicide summit in Irene, Pretoria on Thursday.
The activists interrupted a two-day summit convened by Ramaphosa following a series of marches against gender-based violence.
The women wore black and held high female underwear with messages calling for the violence against women to stop.
The two-day summit was convened by the president following a series of marches against gender-based violence by formations such as 100 Men March and #TotalShutdown, with the latter demanding that Ramaphosa convene a summit.
[WATCH] # #NationalGenderSummit as the president delivers the keynote address, activists stand up and hold up female underwear. Some read “stop rape” and “don’t kill us”. @eNCA pic.twitter.com/Ezx2Z83tHL
— Masego Rahlaga (@MasegoRahlaga) November 1, 2018
The summit is aimed at finding ways to address the scourge of femicide and women abuse in the country.
During his address, Ramaphosa said South Africa is a country with relatively high levels of violence and criminality and this can no longer be accepted.
According to the SAPS Crime Statistics report of 2018, femicide increased by 11 per cent over the last two years.
“We cannot, and we will not rest until we have brought those figures down to zero. We are aiming for a femicide rate of zero per 100,000,” he said.
Survivors who shared their stories complained that the police and the court system were not equipped and lacked the capacity to effectively assist victims of gender-based violence and s.e.xual assault.
Ramaphosa said this needed to improve and encouraged women to voice their concerns.
Source: The Citizen
