Stand against gender injustice: Vavi

 

 

SAPA, News24, Johannesburg, 10 August 2013

 

Congress of SA Trade Unions general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi on Friday
called on the public to stand against all forms of injustice faced by women
and girls.

 

"Patriarchy, gender based violence, poor access to skills development and
decent employment," he said.

 

Addressing members of the SA Democratic Teachers' Union (Sadtu) during their
regional biennial general meeting in Buffalo City, East London, Vavi said
despite the many advances the country had made since 1994, women were still
economically triply oppressed and exploited.

 

"They bear the brunt of the crisis of poverty, unemployment and inequality,
in a society in which white males still dominate the economy and women form
the majority of those without jobs and living on the breadline," he said.

 

He said they also suffered from outrageous levels of gender-based violence.
Vavi claimed that a woman is murdered by her male partner every six hours
and estimated that at least 150 women are raped each day.

 

"We saw a grotesque example this week in Ceres, where a 4-month-old baby
girl was raped. It is hard to find words to describe such depravity," he
said.

 

Transformation

 

Vavi said as teachers, Sadtu members had a special responsibility to wage
war on sexism and inculcate humane values and attitudes in future
generations.

 

Vavi said as the country would be celebrating the end of the second decade
of democracy, the economy of the country has not been radically transformed
to benefit the majority of South Africans.

 

"The official rate of unemployment is still rising, up from 25,2% in the
first three months of 2013 to 25,6% in the second three months, just 0,1%
below the highest level ever recorded - 25,7% in the 2nd quarter of 2011,"
Vavi said.

 

He said an aspect of the problem, which must concern the teachers, was that
an estimated 72% of the unemployed are young people between 15 and 36 years
of age.

 

"The stark reality is that most of the learners in your classes today,
particularly in the poorer areas, have next-to-no chance of finding a job. 

 

"Even the 5% minority who get access to higher education are not assured of
employment," he said.

 

 

- SAPA

 

From:
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Stand-against-gender-injustice-Vavi-2
0130809

 

 

-- 
-- 
You are subscribed. This footer can help you.
Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this 
message.
You can visit the group WEB SITE at 
http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, 
pages, files and membership.
To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You 
don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put 
anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this 
address (repeat): [email protected] .

--- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups 
"YCLSA Discussion Forum" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email 
to [email protected].
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.


<<image002.jpg>>

Reply via email to