Speech by GOOD MP Shaun August during the debate on the Gender Based Violence Bills in Parliament today.
3 June 2021
Honourable Chairperson
Writing new legislation is the easy part. The far greater challenge is implementation.
GBV is a plague with deep roots. Centuries of male-led violence, division, dispossession, erosion of dignity, contempt for authority, and misogyny, created a profoundly skewed and unequal society.
The introduction of these amendment bills to improve our response to Gender-Based Violence is not a golden bullet. It is a humble start.
The proposed new laws will improve the legislative framework to manage the consequences of gender-based violence, with more sensitivity, and assist victims of violence to take steps to stop it from escalating.
But these laws won’t directly impact the structure of our society that created and continuously re-creates the crisis. Changing the structure of society is up to all of us.
Honourable Chair…
Eradicating this plague is going to require a whole of State response, at all levels of government, and across departments – from police to social development, and from Public Works and Infrastructure to human settlements.
We are mindful that it is fashionable in South Africa to hold government directly responsible for all of our woes. The State does have enormous responsibilities, but that doesn’t give the rest of society a free ride to sit back and wait for the land of milk and honey.
That a country of freedom, fairness and justice, that most of us want, requires most of our attention.
The country’s wealth is predominantly in private hands. The private sector therefore has a huge role to play supporting the State and its citizens emerge from the shadows of division.
The non-profit sector, already responsible for so much good work, must step up to the plate and incorporate gender education into organisations’ day-to-day activities.
Families and communities also have critical roles. The import of these amendments must reverberate through our homes and streets. Our children, particularly our boys, must be taught what lies ahead if they commit violence against women.
Those who dare lay hands on our women are not aliens from Mars. They are our fathers, brothers, cousins and children.
The Gender-Based Violence Bills have GOOD’s support.
Thank you.