UN rapporteur weighs in on fighting GBV

The newly-appointed UN Special Rapporteur on health rights, Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng, said that a lack of funding for organisations fighting gender-based violence is the main factor undermining efforts to end the scourge in SA. Mofokeng said government needed to put its money where its mouth was. A report in The Citizen notes that Mofokeng said: ‘For all the years from 2012 to 2019, we have been saying SA needs a well-co-ordinated, victim-centred response by all affected departments and civil society. You can have all the plans, but you have to put money ahead if you are to fight this disease.’ She said there must be social and judicial consequences for perpetrators of violence. That would happen if all role players worked together in a co-ordinated manner and sufficient funding was made available. Mofokeng, speaking as commissioner in charge of sexual reproduction, health rights and international instruments at the Commission on Gender Equality (CGE), said National Treasury must stop cutting the budget to CGE and civil society organisations dealing with gender-based violence.