The Kopanong Declaration: 365 Days of Action to end Violence
against Women and Children
We the participants at this watershed conference
to agree on a coordinated and comprehensive approach to ending violence against
women and children;
Consisting, as we do, of 260 representatives from all
spheres of government; constitutional bodies; civil society; business; unions;
faith-based organisations; traditional authorities and international cooperating
partners including United Nations Agencies;
Concerned, that ten years after
our Constitution came into force and the ratification of several international
human rights instruments the rights of people who suffer gender based violence
are still daily violated;
Convinced that the Age of Hope depends on all
South Africans living in an environment where they are free from fear and able
to exercise and enjoy their full human rights;
Aware that the 16 Days of
Activism campaign needs to be sustained all year around;
Recommit ourselves
to the following fundamental provisions of the Constitution:
The equality
clause which outlaws unfair discrimination on grounds of race, gender, sex, pregnancy,
marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability,
religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth;
The right to
human dignity;
The clause on freedom and security of the person which
states that everyone has the right to "bodily and psychological integrity".
This includes the right to make decisions concerning reproduction; to security
and control over one's body and to dignity;
Socio-economic rights such
as right to adequate housing, health care services, food, water and social security;
The
statement that in cases where customary law or any law conflicts with the Constitution,
the Constitution will take precedence.
Commit ourselves to finalising
a detailed action plan whose overarching objectives are to:
Strengthen
and place far greater emphasis on prevention through forging effective partnerships
with all stakeholders, including schools, parents associations, community based
organisations; the media; local government; traditional and religious leaders;
the private sector and inter government sector as well as develop criteria for
monitoring the effectiveness of such campaigns.
Ensure men work together
with women in eliminating patriarchy.
Create a safe physical environment.
Promote
a holistic, empowerment approach to eradicating violence against women and children
that takes account of the intersection of race, class, location, disability and
sexuality and of the role of poverty and economic inequality in fuelling this
scourge.
Eradicate violence against women and children in a targeted and
measured way over the coming decade, based on baseline data on sexual offences,
domestic violence, sexual harassment, hate crimes and identity based violence
to be established as part of the action plan.
Develop, enact and implement
a comprehensive legislative framework that gives effect to the rights of all citizens
especially women and children to be free from gender based violence; cost the
laws in place and develop business plans, for their implementation;
Ensure
an integrated case management system operating on minimum standards with a view
to reduce cycle times and increase conviction rates of perpetrators of gender
violence;
Eliminate secondary victimisation by improving services to survivors
of gender violence and ensure that every survivor has access to comprehensive
treatment, victim friendly care that is standardised and coordinated between the
various service providers;
Provide effective support and help to empower
survivors of gender violence to reclaim their lives and dignity; as well as to
rehabilitate perpetrators
Put in place effective monitoring and evaluation
mechanisms.
We further commit to ensuring that the following priority
actions, at a minimum, are taken before the 2006 16 Days campaign that starts
on 25 November 2006:
The Sexual Offences Bill is passed after a further
round of public comment.
The Children's Bill is passed as part of the
development, promulgation, resourcing and implementation of legislation and policy
to effectively prevent and respond to violence against children harmonised with
international conventions, standards and norms.
An audit of all specialised
services (forensic clinic services, one-stop centres, Victim Empowerment Centres
etc) is conducted to determine what exists and to develop a best practice model.
A
strategy is developed for the management of sexual offences including the establishment
of sexual offences courts, with participation of non-government organisation (NGO)
service providers;
The drafting of a joint, integrated training plan on
violence against women and children and a body to co-ordinate the above;
Development
of implementation plans for all existing policies and procedures including the
National Policy on Sexual Assault Care Practice under the IDMT. This should include
provincial and civil society representation and should have a strong public education
and awareness component;
Formulate a policy framework on partnerships
between government and non-governmental organisations in the provision of shelters
and places of safety to include all stakeholders, including local government.
Canvass
the draft action plan extensively with all stakeholders, especially those not
represented at this conference, and those that have the capacity to ensure that
this plan is affected at community level, such as local government, schools and
traditional authorities.
Put in place the coordinating structure for the
National Action Plan including a multi-sector task team comprising representatives
of all the working committees and a Council of Deputy Ministers chaired by the
Deputy Minister of Local Government as the champion of the 16 Day campaign;
Put
in place a secretariat with the necessary technical support to ensure effective
capacity and implementation.
Find mechanisms to ensure relevant disaggregated
data; agree on key targets and baselines for the effective monitoring and evaluation
of the action plan; and put in place a computerised tracking system to be developed
with assistance from the IT department of Treasury;
Finalise the short
term action plan for the next six months by June and receive any additional inputs
for the medium term action plan by the end of June with a view to adopting the
2007 Action Plan at the end of this year's Sixteen Day campaign on 10 December.
We, commit to collective resource mobilisation to ensure that these
actions are taken and will hold each other mutually accountable for the actions
we have pledged to ensure that every woman and child in our nation is able to
enjoy the rights to which they are entitled by our Constitution.
Agreed
this 5th day of May 2006
Issued by: Government Communication (GCIS) 5
May 2006
