The Waterpoort SAPS, in partnership with the Waterpoort community, officially launched the 16 Days of Activism Against the Abuse of Women and Children during an event that was held at the Waterpoort sports grounds a fort-night ago.

In his address, the station commissioner of Waterpoort SAPS, Capt Samuel Moshapo, said his station would work in partnership with other government departments, civil society organisations and community members around the Waterpoort farm and surrounding areas, to fight the scourge of violence against woman and children in the area. “If we can join hands and work together in partnerships, we can win the war against women and child abuse,” he said.

He said men started to abuse their wives and children instead of car-ing for and protecting them.

The 16 Days of Activism campaign takes place annually between 25 November, which is the International Day of No Violence Against Women, to the 10th of December, which is international Human Rights Day.

Moshapo urged community members always to report their abusers to the police, so that they can be put behind bars where they belong.

The theme of this year´s campaign is “Don´t look away, Act against abuse.”

It was during this event that women and children engaged in tra-ditional dances such as malende, tshigombela, domba and many more.

The 16 Days of Activism campaign is a partnership between government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), faith-based organisations (FBOs), business, tradi-tional leaders, state-owned enterprises (SoEs), civil society and the media to raise awareness about the abuse of women and children.

The acting mayor of Makhado municipality, Cllr Jeanet Matumba, said the municipality supported the campaign that sought to combat gender-based violence. “Over the years, we have had to contend with the fact that incidents of abuse continue to occur, in spite of the existence of a progressive constitutional and legislative framework that protects women while promoting a hu-man rights culture,” she said.