As a human rights activist for women’s rights I was shocked and disgusted by what I saw at the State of the Nation Address on 9 February.
I sat at home watching on live TV as security forces were called to remove EFF members from Parliament, among them women.
I watched in horror as these women were assaulted, their clothes torn from their bodies, and that inside the walls of our Parliament.
Parliament is the very place where laws are made to protect women and the public as a whole. Sadly, to me it now seems a dangerous place for a woman to be.
I struggle to understand how we in future will enter this very place to make laws.
All this happened in front of the President. Makes me wonder how serious our government is about women’s rights?
What I also cannot fathom is how there are never enough police officers to assist a woman who has been abused, but there were enough police officers to witness how these woman were manhandled. Strange to say, no one was bothered or concerned about the attack on the female members of Parliament.
What kind of example is Parliament setting to the normal man on the street? Are we saying it is alright for women to be treated in this way? Will the police in future think twice before reacting when a woman is abused?
An injury to one is an injury to all!
And so the struggle for women’s rights continues…
