Africa-Press – Angola. The Provincial Office for the Family and Promotion of Women of Cuanza Norte held, this Thursday, a march to repudiate violence against women and children.
Women from various social organizations participated in the march, such as political, police, religious, as well as children and traditional entities.
The vice-governor of the province, Luzia da Silva Bartolomeu, who led the march, called for an end to acts of violence against women and children, asking for protection for these members of society.
“Today we are, once again, here to say enough is enough” he reiterated, requesting the union of society and denouncing these acts.
Luzia da Silva Bartolomeu recalled that domestic violence is a public crime that can be reported by any citizen who becomes aware of the situation, not just the victim.
The official also denounced the trafficking of human beings and organs for trade, drawing citizens’ attention to the increase in the level of violence in the province and in the country.
The provincial secretary of the Organization of Angolan Women (OMA), Filomena de Lima, said that this situation has been a “great” concern for the institution, which “strongly” repudiates it and calls on men to protect women and minors.
For this reason, OMA, through its Legal Office, carries out conflict mediation actions, marches, lectures and debates, with the main focus on combating violence against women and children. On average, it handles ten cases per month and successfully.
From January to the present date, according to the head of the Family Department of the Provincial Office for the Family and Gender Promotion, Eliseu Ângelo Miguel, the province registered 301 cases of domestic violence, with greater provision of food and physical aggression.
Eliseu Miguel asked for the union of society to combat this crime that afflicts society and families, in particular, so that these acts of the kind are not recurrent in the province.
He informed that victims, under the Law against Domestic Violence, receive moral, psychological and material support, depending on the type of crime.
In cases of abandonment of the home, he clarified, the institution holds reconciliation meetings, for the responsibility of the offender, with the support of partners, for the harmonization of society.
The act took place simultaneously in 10 municipalities in the province and also aimed to repudiate the desecration of the corpse of a 22-year-old girl, in the municipality of Catumbela, in Benguela.
The march, which started at Largo das Escola and ended at Largo 1a de Maio, had as its slogan “Raising your hand is not the solution” to discourage physical aggression and other forms of violence against women and children.
The participants displayed posters with words condemning domestic violence and calling for the promotion of dialogue in families, family harmony, respect for children and women during life and after death, as well as the rights of these citizens.
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