The chairperson of Project 365 "Justice in our lifetime", Ms Jade Dzhivhuwo, has urged communities not to keep quiet but to speak out against all forms of abuse in order to ensure that the killing of women and children stops.
She visited Tshilwavhusiku Razwimisani Special School on Friday, 27 November, to highlight the 16 Days of Activism against the abuse of women and children. During the visit, the learners also received cosmetics.
"Another good way of highlighting issues of woman and child abuse is to speak with the women, children and people who live with disabilities on how they should act against any kind of abuse," Dzhivhuwo told her audience.
She advised learners and the school to always make sure that they did not walk near bushes or go into dark places on their own. "I encourage all victims of abuse to report incidents of abuse to the police," she said. "Even when the abuser is the sole breadwinner in your house, report them to the police because that person might end up killing you and your children."
She asked the community not to push disabled people away. "We have this kind of event because we want to show disabled and challenged people that we love and accept them in our houses and communities." Parents were urged to stop abusing and using people with disabilities as mere sources of income.
"Why is the rate of killing and abuse of women and children so high?" Dzhivhuwo asked. "Enough is enough! Together we can end this gender-based violence against women and children in our society," she said.
Ms Roshini Pakkiree from the Sanjit Train of Hope Foundation said that people within communities must refrain from acts of victimising and being prejudiced against children with special needs. "We have had instances where people said, 'our children are crazy' or 'mad', and that's not a true reflection of who and what they are," she said. "They are children with special needs. We want women and children to speak out about all gender-based violence, so that men who are still abusing them should face the law. We also urge victims of all forms of abuse to report such cases to the police," Pakkiree said.
The principal of the school, Ms Mufunwa Ramutshila, thanked these organisations who chose her school to talk to the learners. "We were told that in our district the cases of young children being abused, raped and killed are rife and we want the perpetrators to stop such practices. We encourage people to go back to the basis of good morals, and we urge churches and traditional leaders to help promote this," Ramutshila said.