Harsher penalties needed for GBV
29 November 2019
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape is calling for harsher penalties for abusers and better care for victims to be implemented by all relevant authorities.
Following a visit to Colesberg last weekend, I came across two separate households where gender-based violence continues unabated, in spite of the 16 Days of Activism Against Women and Children Campaign.
I remain very concerned for the wellbeing of both victims, who have been failed by the current system.
In the first instance, there is the case of a mother and her baby son, who succumb to alcohol induced abuse by the child’s father, every weekend, most notably when alcohol comes into the equation. The baby even found itself in hospital on one occasion when the mother, who was under physical attack by the child’s father, dropped him.