As we approach the 16-days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children, the Gauteng Traffic Police and other law enforcement agencies have urged women at Bosman Taxi Rank in Pretoria to speak out against incidents of being taunted and abused because of what they were wearing while in public.
This initiative was implemented after numerous reports that taxi ranks were unsafe places, particularly for female commuters. The initiative stresses that incidents of abuse should not be allowed to carry on and should be reported to the authorities promptly.
Gauteng Traffic Police spokesperson, Sello Maremane, said the most important message they wanted to share was for women not to be silenced and where they could get help.
“We’ve got the domestic violence act and incidents like these are covered in that act because women should not be dictated to as to what they should wear. Those acts must be reported to us and we will act on it because it is against the law,” said Maremane.
He said law enforcement officers also abhorred such behaviour and they wanted commuters to know that silence was only perpetuating the unspeakable acts to continue unabated.
“People need to be aware that we are here to assist them and they need to talk about this. Any form of abuse is not and will never be tolerated be it sexual, physical, or psychological, hence our bid to give out the necessary contact numbers to use,” concluded Maremane.
