PRESIDENTIAL SUMMIT ON GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE AND FEMICIDE 2

Government, together with various Non-Governmental Organisations, will hold the Presidential Summit on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) 2 on 1-2 November 2022. President Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver the keynote address at the Summit. The Summit will reflect on progress made in the implementation of declarations proposed during the 2018 Presidential Summit on GBVF.

 

In that declaration, the Summit proposed to fast-track the review of existing laws and policies on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF), to be victim-centred and to ensure that all other relevant laws respond to GBVF. Delegates also resolved to immediately set up an interim structure, which is funded, with the eventual objective of establishing a national, multi-stakeholder Council.

 

They committed to ensure adequate resourcing of Thuthuzela Care Centres, sexual offences courts and shelters that respond to the needs of all people including people with disabilities and LGBTQIA+.

 

Since the summit, the Emergency Action Plan to deal with the scourge of GBVF was developed in 2019 and R1.6 billion was re-prioritised within government to implement the plan. The plan focuses on improving access to justice for survivors of violence and prevention campaigns to change attitudes and behaviour.

 

The 2022 Summit will reflect on the work undertaken since the first Presidential Summit on GBVF in November 2018, report on critical successes and challenges, and outline clear strategies to overcome them. The first Summit resulted in the development of the National Strategic Plan on GBV and Femicide (NSP on GBVF), which provides a strategic roadmap and sets out specific plans for a multisectoral approach to end GBVF and build a society where womxn, children, and the LGBTQIA+ community are safe from violence directed at them because of patriarchal stereotyping.