Thousands of South Africans hold protest over gender based violence
Thousands of people hit the main streets in Sandton, Johannesburg, on Friday, to protest gender violence against women.
Civil society groups assembled from 3 a.m outside the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) where they staged femicide scene.
The mock crime scene represented what women have to go through because of gender-based violence.
Protesters said women should feel safe no matter the environment, at work, at home or at school.
They urged the government to implement policies to protect women and also give a 2 per cent levy on JSE listed companies to help in the fight against gender violence
Some men, however, joined the march to show their support.
Cases of gender-based violence, rape, murder and crimes against women have grabbed headlines across South Africa.
Statistics released on Thursday by South Africa Police Service showed that there were 52,420 cases of sexual offences reported in the April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2019 showing an increase of 4.6 per cent.
Tania Otto from the Women and Men Against Child Abuse said the figures were scary.
“This is an insult to the public’s intellect as domestic crimes are under reported, there is a war on women and children.’’
She said more work should be done to encourage victims of domestic abuse to report crimes to the police. (Xinhua/NAN)
