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THE EMANCIPATION OF WOMEN

The progress we make towards the attainment of a democratic society can only have full and deeper meaning if it is accompanied by significant progress in the struggle for the emancipation of women.

I believe that we should accept the proposition that we must measure the success of progress towards social transformation by advances we make in the struggle for a non-sexist society. Indeed, we should measure the progress towards a democratic transformation by the progress we record in the struggle for gender equality.

The road we still have to traverse towards the attainment of a democratic and fully non-sexist society can be measured by the frightening scale of woman abuse and domestic violence. Statistics which quantify this scale of human anguish and suffering is, by any standard, impermissible.

It is estimated that roughly 30 percent of all the cases of violence reported to the South African Police Service (SAPS) are domestic in nature. One out of every four women is either physically, emotionally or sexually abused by her male partner. An average of 15 000 cases of child abuse is reported to the Child Protection Unit of the SAPS every year.

This scale of violence and abuse against women and children demands that we give full appreciation to the fact that this form of oppression is a human cancer which affects all sectors and all levels of society. As a result, the struggle against women oppression and child abuse should be situated within the broader struggle for political, constitutional, social, cultural and economic emancipation.

In order to fully exorcise the body of society of this cancer, it is important to address political, constitutional, social, cultural and economic conditions which give rise to this disease. Surely we shall not have done enough if we were to limit our efforts to the symptoms and effects of this cancer.

The people of South Africa have already placed the issue of women's rights firmly on the constitutional and political agenda of transformation. South African women, in their organisational formations and as individuals, have played an indispensable role in that regard.

Never again shall the chambers of the Legislative Assembly, as corresponding structures in the provinces and localities, be the preserve of the male voice. The growing voice of women in those chambers continues to enrich the substance of political and constitutional debates.

The establishment of several structures, for example the Human Rights and the Gender commissions, is one of the ways in which the new Constitution aims to go an extra mile in order to provide against gender discrimination.

The government is also wholly committed to upholding and adhering to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The Women's Charter for Effective Equality, adopted by many women's organisations at their National Convention in February 1994, is an important milestone in providing a national policy framework within which the struggle for the emancipation of women should be pursued. It sets the agenda for the attainment of gender equality in all spheres of public and private life.

Economic discrimination against women is one of the important conditions which give rise to woman oppression and woman abuse. The condition where the woman is institutionally placed in the situation of economic subordination and the man is perceived as the sole provider of family livelihood perpetuates the situation of economic and social oppression of women.

Our Interim Constitution as well as the draft of the new Constitution go a long way in an attempt to remove institutionalised economic discrimination against women. Legislative provisions which relate to economic issues like taxation, land restitution, equal pay for work and property ownership reflect a strong commitment to a non-sexist society. The plight of rural illiterate women, the most downtrodden of all women, can now receive priority attention.

Our progress in the struggle against violence and abuse of women and children also depends on the progress we make in establishing a democracy characterised by political and social stability, personal security and the promotion of peace. In communities which are afflicted with political and criminal violence, it is women and children who bear the brunt of the culture of violent conflict which is nourished by such conditions.

The intensity of violence, poverty and general want leads to large-scale disruption of family and personal life and creates fertile conditions for the spread of social ills like rape, violence against women and child abuse, and the spread of diseases like AIDS.

One of the greatest challenges facing our democracy is the need to cultivate a civil society imbued with and capable of promoting a social ethos which places human interest at the centre of its outlook. Our society needs a democratic culture which is dynamic, always ready to insulate itself from social degeneracy whilst learning and assimilating the best out of human achievement and civilisation.

The integratedness of the world today and the ascendancy of the information superhighway with its little regard for territorial boundaries makes the challenge of cultivating such a civil society formidable. Television, audio-visual cassette, magazine and paperback have all brought the worst and the best of human achievement right into the living room.

The positive morality of the society we seek to build shall depend on the strength of organisations of civil society to set a people-centred agenda for transformation.

Our ability to set such an agenda also depends on our ability to forge and consolidate a social and cultural partnership between government and organisations of civil society. We see the establishment of the National Interim Committee against Women abuse and Domestic Violence clearly as an effort towards the attainment of this goal.

We need to set in place mechanisms and programmes which are designed to mount an ongoing campaign to educate the whole of society about the immensity of the problem of domestic violence, as well as ways and means in which it can be combated.

We need to increase the capacity or organs of safety and security to do their work. There is also a dire need for institutions designated to assist victims of domestic violence to reconstruct their life psychologically, socially and materially.

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