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YOU COULD BE NEXT

By SIBONGILE SKY SUKATI | 2024-11-25

Last year on this very day I posted a short quiz where I wanted us to remember the names of women who had been killed by their lovers.

However the response was lacking because no one seemed to remember who had been murdered except the organisations whose job is to know such.

Once again in 2024 we have had a lot of killings where partners were killed by their lovers, but unfortunately we do know who they are, they are just passing faces on a daily basis in our newspapers and we unfortunately forgot who they are.

Just last week, a woman was killed by her lover for allegedly cheating on him and instead of getting to the bottom line of why she was killed, we were quick to write a story of a man who showed up from nowhere and alleged that the murdered woman was his ex wife.

Needless to say I have also forgot what the name of the woman is and it is embarrassing to say the least. About two or three weeks ago another man lured his lover with the promise of a job only to brutally kill her.

To date, that man has not been arrest and the police are seemingly clueless on where to find him. Our leaders, in particular, the DPM Thulisile Dladla also came up with many excuses on why these women are beaten up and killed.

Last week in senate, Dladla suggested that there is too much alcohol abuse especially among couples which is why they end up assaulting each other.

The other week, Dladla had another theory where she advised women against taking imali yekuta because it causes a lot of fights among the couple.

One thing that is clear in my opinion though, is that government is clearly not going to declare a state of emergency when it comes to gender based violence and sexual offences violence issues.

I do not know why government is so reluctant about declaring this as astate of emergency, I do not think it will be admitting failure but simply taking the bull by the horns.

Just in case you are in the dark about the 16 Days of Activism campaign, it was started by activists at the inauguration of the Women's Global Leadership Institute in 1991.

Elimination
It is used as an organising strategy by individuals and organisations around the world to call for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls.

On this day, people are expected to wear the colour orange which gives hope and brightness.
According to www.queer.com, violence against women and girls is one of the most common human rights violations.

Violence against women still often goes unpunished because of silence, stigma and shame.
November 25 is the International Day for ending the violence against women. On this day, the 16-day campaign against gender-based violence in the world begins, ending on December 10 – International Human Rights Day.

The aim of the campaign is to raise public awareness of the challenges of violence against women.
Women’s rights activists have been marking November 25 as the Day for the Elimination of Gender-Based Violence since 1981.

This date was chosen in honor of the Mirabal Sisters, three political activist women. Sisters Patria, Minerva, and Maria Theresa fought against the dictatorial regime of Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic, and on November 25, 1960, all three lost their lives.

Mirabal sisters were called “the butterflies” (“Las Mariposas”). They were from one of the provinces of the Dominican Republic – Salcedo, had university education, career, married and had children. Prior to their death, the sisters spent 10 years fighting the Trujillo regime, two of them, Minerva and Maria Teresa, had even been imprisoned several times for activism.

“If they kill me, I will reach my hand out from the grave and be even stronger” – these are the words with which Minerva responded to everyone who tried to warn her about the dangers. On November 25. 1960, her corpse was found in a car in a ravine, along with her two sisters – Patria and Maria Theresa.

Over half a century later, Minerva’s promise has come true – the death of the sisters is viewed as the main factor that lead to the fall of Trujillo’s regime, and the name of the Mirabal sisters became a global symbol of women’s fight.

Some of the violence against women
Physical violence – beating, torture, damage to health, unlawful deprivation of liberty or any other act that causes physical pain or suffering; Failure to comply with health requirements, resulting in injury or death of a family member;

Psychological violence – insults, blackmail, humiliation, threats or other actions that violate human dignity and honour.

Sexual Abuse – Sexual intercourse with violence, threats of violence, or the use of victim helplessness, sexual intercourse or any other act of a sexual nature or fornication towards a minor;

Economic violence – an act that results in the restriction of the right to food, housing and other related conditions, the use of property and labor rights, as well as the use of co-owned property and the right to utilise one’s share.

Coercion – the physical or psychological coercion of a person to perform or not to perform an action, the performance of which a person has the right to refrain from, or to influence them against their will.

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