Have you ever heard desperate tears on the other end of a mobile phone coupled with a stifled voice afraid to speak? Have you ever recognized the caller ID and braced yourself for the worst. Spilling open through choked sobs, the caller confides that her husband has beaten her and she’s fled into the street, barefoot in a thin sleep shirt with her cell phone in hand. She’s run to the police station and is on the sidewalk outside, afraid to go in. She’s in pain as her jaw and head ache. You feel helpless as you hear her fear, too far a distance to dash over. All you have is the phone line. She opens the door and walks into the police station, hope for help in every brave footstep. She looks around and notices there are no female police officers on duty and no counselors. The policeman at the counter half looks up and tells her to sit in the waiting area. He’ll send a police car to take her home. Traumatic emotions fill their house when her husband is arrested in front of her petrified daughters. They take him to the station and release him soon after. You receive a second call - she tells you that he cannot be charged, that according to African custom the two families must meet to discuss the situation. She grabs her children and fleas to a house of safety.
That this incident happened during the 16days of activism makes you real with confusion. What kind of message is our judicial system sending to women and girls in our country? Does Correctional Services believe that a mother should build a fort out of blankets to shelter herself and her children from the violent abuser they call dad? What kind of protection is that? Is domestic abuse becoming so regular that they’ve lost empathy for the violated? Surely, cultural norms need to change and multiple intersecting oppressions must be addressed. Clearly, if he is hitting her, it´s not a healthy relationship. It’s definitely not love.
The domestic violence act specifies that women who are abused at home are entitled to a protection order. There are laws in existence to protect women, and the state is failing to implement them.
Are we saying NO loud enough? 16days is NOT enough for the message to reach the abusers. This is a campaign that should reign for 365days annually, continuously. > 16.4.365
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16 Days of Activism to End Violence Against Girls and Women |
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