THOHOYANDOU - In celebration of National Women’s Day and in recognition of the Human Rights abuses suffered by women in South Africa on a daily basis, the Thohoyandou Victim Empowerment Programme (TVEP) will be holding their Annual Women’s Day Festival on Tuesday, August 9, at the Indoor Sports Centre in Thohoyandou.

According to a spokesperson for TVEP, the event will include several “hot” debates on controversial topics. Several service delivery stakeholders, such as the Office of the Public Protector, SAPS, ChildLine, Treatment Action Campaign, Centre for Positive Care, Justice Centre, Gender Desk of the Thulamela Municipality, Limpopo Network on Violence Against Women, Human Rights Commission, IEC, Munna ndi Nndi and other victim empowerment programmes, will provide information and advice to the guests.

One of the highlights on the programme will be a parade of about 500 women and children, each representing a rape or sexual assault victim who has reported to one of the Trauma Centres in the past 12 months. They will parade through Thohoyandou, wearing red t-shirts to create a strong visual impact of the numbers and ages of actual vic-tims.

The programme will also include theatre performances by two local drama groups, circus trapeze acts by Sirkona, reggae singer Colbert Mukwevho, The Mbokota Pure Holy Boys as well as human rights based quizzes and prizes.

The event is sponsored by the Foundation for Human Rights. The Foundation is funded by the European Union under the European Programme for Reconstruction and Development in South Africa (an EU/SA partnership).