Joburg launches Women Safety Campaign

15 June 2017

 

With the recent spate of gruesome killings of women and children still dominating the public discourse throughout the country, the City of Johannesburg’s Public Safety Department has encouraged women to learn self-defence techniques to protect themselves against attackers.

 

Speaking at the launch of the department’s Women’s Safety Campaign at the University of Johannesburg’s Kingsway campus on Wednesday June 14, Member of the Mayoral Committee for Public Safety Cllr Michael Sun said the City could not sit back and watch as women were being senselessly and violently attacked.

“As the Department of Public Safety we can’t just sit back. We need to put our money where our mouth is,” said MMC Sun.

During the launch of the campaign at the university’s Sophiatown residence, a martial arts specialist took young female students who packed the hall through several basic self-defence techniques to help them fob off attackers.

Pamphlets with safety tips and whistles were also distributed to the students. The whistles are intended to be blown to attract attention in case of an attack.

Cllr Sun said the self-defence initiatives would be rolled out to the rest of the city in the coming weeks.

Dr Corne Davis, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Strategic Communications, said the University of Johannesburg’s partnership with the City of Johannesburg was relevant to its own programmes of fighting gender-based violence.

“One of the aspects we need to focus on is the building of relationships among all stakeholders. If we don’t work together and form partnerships we will never combat this scourge. We have been planning this before the upsurge of violence against women and children. The timing is, therefore, coincidental,” said Dr Davis.

The launch of the Women’s Safety Campaign followed a march from the Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown to the Nelson Mandela Bridge in Braamfontein on Friday June 9 by female officers of both Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department and the South African Police Service to highlight the scourge.