16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence 2016
Ok, so this is a late post but i just wanted to share just a little bit of our contribution towards sensitizing our communities about gender based violence.
my friends and fellows of the Mandela Washington Fellowship visited The Hub at Morija in the outskirts of Maseru on the 25th November 2016 to speak to the community members about Gender Based violence. I talked to them about the forms of violence, the cycle of violence and why some women never leave and the need to find help. On the table was also the topics on abuse against disabled persons, abuse against the LGBTI Community, Issues of Inheritance and the remedies under the law. While the intention was to speak to adults on the subjects, it proved to be a bad day but we managed to tailor make the conversation for our audience at the time.
The following week I joined the Women's Law Clinic in addressing gender based violence with the members of the Lesotho Mounted Police. We discussed gender based violence as a whole and how they handled such cases, mediation in gender based violence and handling of evidence. I have to admit that these meeting was an eye opener. I commend the Police on the work they do, i also understand the difficulties they mentioned such as lack of training, complainants being uncooperative and the failure of the Courts to address the issue effectively, whether it be on the part of the prosecution or the sentences meted by the Courts.
One thing is certain, Lesotho is still so behind in the fight against gender based violence. In the absence of the law that specifically addresses Gender Based Violence, the police and the courts will continue to treat it based on discretion. Which is discouraged because of the different views held by individuals on the matter. The Domestic Violence Bill has since been filed in 1998 and has remained just a Bill to date. One questions the commitment of the Government on this issue. As it is said, domestic violence makes either the perpetrator or the victim killers, hence the need to address it promptly.
