Stakeholders deliberate on ending GBV

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Stakeholders deliberate on ending GBV
Stakeholders deliberate on ending GBV

Africa-Press – Lesotho. In pre-celebration of World AIDS Day, which is commemorated annually today (December 01), the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), National AIDS

Commission (NAC) and SAfAIDS held the Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW) country dialogue. The deliberations were on ideas and measures to be taken to end violence against

women and girls as well as femicide. The initiative forms part of the ongoing journey of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) where young girls from different organizations

gathered to deliberate on how GBV and AIDS impact their everyday lives. Lesotho is ranked number one in Africa and five worldwide on GBV and femicide cases.

In an effort to fight these human rights violations, Member of Parliament (MP) Hon. Moshoeshoe Fako said the counter domestic bill will soon be enacted in

parliament as it is only left with a few stages to pass through. “This bill will protect the victims of abuse against the perpetrators and it is our responsibility to protect women and young girls against any kind of abuse,” he

said, urging women and girls to speak out and knock at every door to seek help to report abuse. This dialogue saw discussions on how GBV intensifies the spread of HIV and different

opinions were thrown to the floor, where among other things, the participants highlighted that some of the root causes of GBV are poverty, peer pressure, low

self-confidence and negligence. Also part of the dialogue, sex workers’ representative said the abuse sometimes comes from parents and loved ones as they can sexually and physically abuse

young girls. She said such cases are often never discussed due to favour of family relations. Taking the stand, Tšepang Maboee, – a HIV Activist said the perpetrators cover their

evil deeds by saying women and girls attract abuse of rape by the way they dress. Movement for Economic Change (MEC) Deputy Leader and Member of Parliament (MP) Hon.

Matlhohonolofatso Tšepang Tšita-Mosena said it is very hard for them as women representatives in parliament to stand for other women as there are only a few

of them. “There are only 27 of us against 120 males and it is not easy being the voice of other women without enough female support. I urge you to influence

and encourage young women to participate in political dynamics and elect credible people,” she mentioned. Mosena further said the laws should be harmonized, people should know about the law and make more noise to help extend

the message. The AIDS Regional Director in East and Southern Africa Anne Githutuku said the United Nations are nine years away from ending HIV/AIDS as the target is to end

it by 2030. She said, “The statistics are promising as Botswana’s data shows that HIV in that country has reduced by 50%, hopefully by 2030 there will be no AIDS,”.

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