Women should start businesses to free themselves from GBV - Nkoana-Mashabane
Minister for Women Maite Nkoana-Mashabane wants women to venture into business to help them become independent and avoid being in relationships due to financial dependency.
Nkoana-Mashabane spoke at the official launch the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children Campaign in Nasrec, Johannesburg on Friday.
The theme for this year's campaign is “Socio-Economic Rights and Empowerment to build Women’s Resilience against Gender Based Violence and Femicide: Connect, Collaborate, Contract!”
The theme highlights how women become vulnerable to violence because of society’s unequal ownership of the economy.
She said women should take the business opportunities to liberate themselves from poverty.
"The call for the economic empowerment of women cannot be separated from the broader call for a violence-free South Africa. Both need to be met with urgency. The centre of our response to GBVF, is to tackle the drivers of violence in our communities.
"This includes challenging the socio-economic status of women and other vulnerable groups including the youth, persons with disabilities and LGBTQIA+ persons.
"Our intention throughout the year has been to make the linkages between building women’s resilience through socio economic empowerment and its influence in decreasing women and children’s vulnerability to forms of violence including GBVF," added Nkoana-Mashabane.
The latest crime statistics shows that between July and September 989 women were killed while between April and September, 558 children were killed.
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