Speak out to stop abuse of women and children

The Vhembe Civil Society Network (VCSN), together with the Thohoyandou Victim Empowerment Programme (TVEP), recently held a Women’s Day celebration to support and encourage women to recognise that they are important.

The event took place at the council chamber of the Vhembe District Municipality.

“VCSN was formed based on the high rate of unacceptable behaviour towards women and children abuse in the Vhembe area,” said the chairperson of the network, Mr Norman Mudau. “The act of women and childrenhas become the main problem in Vhembe, and within this year, we have lost a number of our mothers and sisters who were killed by their partners,” he added.

He advised young girls not to give up on their dreams. “Your family background shouldn’t give you permission to go and sleep around with blessers. The future is in your hands. Do not destroy it,” he said. 

He further encouraged women and children to act and break the silence in order to reduce the unacceptable behaviour towards women and children. “There are a number of women who are involved in abusive relationships, but they don’t speak out. Our organisation is here to help you to overcome the abusive relationships,” he said.

During the event, some of the women and children shared the heart-breaking stories that they had encountered in their families.

Date:11 September 2017

By: Mbulaheni Ridovhona

The 22-year-old Mbulaheni (Gary) Ridovhona has been passionate about journalism to the extent that he would buy himself a copy of weekly Univen students' newsletter, Our Voice. After reading, he would write stories about his rural village, Mamvuka, and submit them to the very newsletter for publication. His deep-rooted love for words and writing saw him register for a Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies at the University of Venda, and joined the Limpopo Mirror team in February 2016 as a journalism intern.

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