Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Mmapaseka Steve Letsike, has called on churches to take a firm stand against gender-based violence (GBV), child abuse, discrimination and other forms of injustice.
Letsike made the call while addressing the Central District Young Women’s Manyano 21st Annual Convention in Soweto.
“If the church could find its voice against racial oppression, it must find its voice against gender-based violence. If our church halls could become spaces in which oppressed communities organised for freedom, they must become safe spaces for survivors today,” Letsike said on Thursday.
The Deputy Minister noted that some of the most difficult “unmapped territories” confronting society are not geographical, but exist within homes, communities, and in some cases, churches.
These include violence against women, abuse of children, the vulnerability of persons with disabilities, poverty, unemployment, discrimination and the isolation experienced by many people.
She said women may enter churches while carrying the burden of unemployment, single parenthood, disability, financial dependence on an abusive partner or trauma caused by sexual violence.
“These realities do not disappear when the hymn begins. Our religion must therefore be capable of responding to the deepest social needs of the people who practise it. There is no justification for silence when abuse is taking place.”
The Deputy Minister also warned against using forgiveness to shield perpetrators from accountability.
“Forgiveness cannot be manipulated into immunity from accountability.”
Letsike said survivors often faced a second battle after surviving abuse – persuading their communities to believe them.
For women and children with disabilities, the risks can be compounded because of their dependence on others for transport, communication, money, personal assistance or care.
“The very relationship that should provide safety can become the relationship through which power is abused. That is why our approach must be intersectional,” she said.
Letsike also called for the inclusion and protection of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) people, saying their dignity should not be regarded as less important.
“Lesbian, bisexual and transgender women are women. They experience the same economic pressures, violence and insecurity that other women experience, while sometimes also confronting discrimination because of who they are,” she said.
Equality cannot depend on a person's sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, race, class, or where someone happens to live.
Letsike said faith communities should ensure that prayer is accompanied by action and service, noting that the Young Women’s Manyano is a prayer and service union.
“Not prayer alone. Prayer and service. The conjunction matters. Prayer turns us towards God. Service turns us towards one another.”
While government has established policies and institutions to address gender-based violence and femicide, including the National Strategic Plan on GBVF, Letsike stressed that no national strategy can succeed through government intervention alone.
“The success is determined in homes, churches, schools, clinics, police stations and communities.”
The Deputy Minister called on the church not to spiritually mediate conduct that requires legal and social accountability.
“A child who has been sexually abused requires protection. A woman whose life is threatened requires safety. A person with a disability who reports violence requires accessible justice,” Letsike said.
Reflecting on 70 years since the 1956 Women’s March, 50 years since the 1976 Student Uprising and 30 years of Constitutional Democracy, Letsike said South Africans should not merely admire previous generations but consider what courage requires of them today.
She said the “unmapped territory” could include confronting conversations about abuse, building churches where women could disclose violence without fear, ensuring that persons with disabilities take leadership roles, and challenging homophobia and the exclusion of LGBTI people. – SAnews.gov.za
