The destruction on Monday of 10 000 firearms during a gun amnesty was good, but not good enough, said Judy Bassingthwaite, director of Gunfree South Africa.
”The 10 000 guns destroyed this morning will never harm another human being. Yes it’s a success, but it’s the beginning.
”The manufacture and trade of small arms must be dealt with,” she said.
Bassingthwaite was speaking at the international launch of a report called The Impact of Guns on Women’s Lives.
The report was presented on the eve of international Women’s Day as part of Amnesty International’s (AI) Stop Violence Against Women Campaign and the Control Arms Campaign by AI, Oxfam and the International Action Network on Small Arms.
According to the report, women suffer disproportionately from firearm violence, although they are hardly ever the buyers or owners of guns.
The report also said that in South Africa, like France, one in three women killed by their husbands are shot.
Although the Domestic Violence Act gives police the power to remove weapons, they are often not motivated to take violence against women as seriously as they should, Bassingthwaite said. – Sapa