The extent of violence globally against women and children remains a cause for worry and concern, the Social Development Department said on Wednesday.
Chief operations officer at the department Zane Dangor was speaking shortly after the release of the eighth State of the World Population Report in Pretoria.
The report, titled ”Reaching Common Ground: Culture, Gender and Human Rights”, was unveiled globally on Wednesday.
Dangor said that deeper discussions between the government and civil society were needed to address the matter.
”What worries us still on a global level is the extent to which we have violence against women and violence against children,” said Dangor.
This was despite laws in South Africa dealing with violence.
”There is a disjuncture between what happens at community level and what is enshrined in the Constitution.”
Further discussions between the government, communities and traditional leaders were needed to address the problem.
George Nsiah, of the United Nations Population Fund, said the aim of the report was to develop knowledge about cultural, gender and human rights issues in order to engage with society, thereby promoting development.
”The report finds that any government or any development partner that ignores cultural, gender and human rights issues in their development policies does so at their own peril.”
Culture affects developmental issues such as education and health.
”The report strongly recommends that government and developmental institutions engage with these issues in order to address issues of development,” said Nsiah.
The report found that not enough was being done to address cultural issues, and that harmful practices carried out against people continued to persist in various cultures.
”They are deeply routed in the cultures we live in,” said Nsiah, adding that cultural practices did not mean that human rights should be abused. — Sapa