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South Africa has been hailed for its progressive constitution which enshrines gender equality.

The number of women in parliament has risen substantially since 1994, creating a formidable force for legislative change. But while changing laws can be a rapid process, changing the mindsets that suppress these impressive gains is another issue altogether (Ngoma 2005:8). A culture of violence, born from years of political struggle against apartheid, has been blamed for the gloomy statistics.

The government has already delivered in part on its commitment to prevent and eradicate violence against women and children by reviewing the criminal justice system in South Africa, which led to the development and adoption of the Service Charter for Victims (Jewkes, Levin &

Penn-Kekana 2002:1604). This legislation has been enacted to give women reproductive rights (notably the Choice in Termination of Pregnancy Act 92 of 1996) and to protect women against domestic violence (in the form of the Domestic Violence Act 55 of 1998). Other Acts include, but are not limited to, the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995; the Commission on Gender Equality Act 39 of 1996; the Witness Protection Act 112 of 1998; the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998; the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act 3 of 2000 the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act 4 of 2000; the Code of Good Practice on the Handling of Sexual Harassment of 1998 (updated in 2004); and the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Act 32 of 2007. These pieces of legislation are viewed internationally as among the most empowering for women than anywhere else in the world (Jewkes et al 2002:1605).

The legislative framework was created in consultation between several government departments, including the South African Police Service, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, the National Prosecuting Authority, the Department of Health, the Department of Provincial and Local Government, the Department of Correctional Services and the Department of Social Development. In pursuit of mainstreaming the gender-based issues in 2009, the

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government created the new Ministry of Women, Youth, Children and People with Disabilities.

Its focus is to drive the government's equity, equality and empowerment agenda for women, children and people with disabilities through an integrated approach to accelerate the realisation of their human rights. In view of the above, the South African government began making an effort to eradicate violence against women and children by committing itself to international, regional and national legal instruments for the protection of women against violence. One of the initiatives is the 16 Days of Activism Campaign, which is discussed in the next section.

2.5. 16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM FOR NO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND CHILDREN

As indicated in chapter 1, the 16 Days of Activism Campaign is aimed at contributing to the government‟s primary developmental objective of restoring to individuals their human dignity within the context of safer and more secure families and communities. While the campaign is currently championed by the DWCPD, it was also championed in 1999 by the Department of Justice and the Department of Provincial and Local Government, and Traditional Affairs. At provincial level, the Office for the Status of Women (OSW), located in the provincial offices of the premier, was responsible for implementing the campaign in the provinces in partnership with strategic partners. Former President Thabo Mbeki rightly stated during the 2004 campaign that action against GBV should be extended to 365 days. This 365 days of activism concept was developed and adopted to extend the 16 Days of Activism Campaign to a co-ordinated and comprehensive year-long response through the development of a national action plan to end GBV. The plan serves as an important tool to strengthen efforts to end GBV by holding government, civil society and other stakeholders responsible for the commitment they make. As a result, the then deputy minister of provincial and local government, as the national convener, developed an implementation plan for the 16 Days of Activism Campaign to be extended to 365 days of the year in an attempt to promote advocacy and awareness of the importance of ending violence against women and children.

It should be noted that this is not the government‟s responsibility on its own but include non-governmental organisations (NGOs), faith-based organisations (FBOs), community-based

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organisations, and other businesses for the sole purpose of increasing awareness on the issue of women and child abuse. As indicated in chapter 1, this campaign starts on 25 November and ends on 10 December; it has been in place since 1999. While this campaign has multi-stakeholders as indicated above, its communication responsibility from a government perspective is based within the GCIS. A brief discussion on the role of the GCIS follows below.

Since its inception in 1999, this campaign has grown in scope. For example, according to the campaign‟s Exit Report (2007:7), the 2006 campaign had a special focus on people at grassroots level and beyond the borders of South Africa. This was in line with the vision of the then deputy minister of provincial and local government which entailed to make sure that the campaign involves men and boys in the fight against GBV in schools, homes, communities and the workplace. Of critical importance was that the 2006 campaign focused strongly on behavioural change, while continuing and encouraging women to speak out.

The 2007 campaign was characterised by the continuation of the previous year‟s campaign but emphasised the implementation of the national action plan for eradicating GBV throughout the year. According to the 2007 Exit Report (2008:9), because men are the most likely perpetrators of GBV, the campaign had to focus on actively involving men and boys in an effort to bring about behavioural change and to eradicate GBV.

In an effort to make sure that the campaign is reaching the grassroots level, in 2008 several awareness programmes took place. For example, Youth Month‟s road shows were geared towards raising awareness of child and women abuse among youth in school and those who have left school or were unemployed. During these road shows, topics ranging from HIV/AIDS to child abuse and disability were discussed in farming communities and rural areas. The 2008 campaign was enhanced though a strong partnership with strategic media partners, including the SABC, GCIS and Serongwanyane Technology (a community radio development agency).

Furthermore, over the years until 2011, the campaign was characterised by many elements such as media launches, an SMS campaign, cyber dialogue, print media, donations, website support,

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and media activities around the opening and closing ceremonies which were coordinated by the GCIS (as indicated below).

2.6. ROLE OF THE GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION