​08/03/2016: City of Joburg takes a stand against violence and abuse of women 
 
The City of Johannesburg will be hosting a mass prayer day meeting with religious groups on Thursday, 10 March 2016 at the Wembley Indoor Stadium in Johannesburg against Women and Children violence and abuse as part of the Human Rights Month.
 
The Human Rights campaign runs from March 01 to 31, to protect individual rights, the right to move freely and also raise awareness of the negative impact that violence has on the rights of women, children and society in general. However, the City of Johannesburg is expanding Human Rights month into a year-long, intensified programme that will ensure men and boys are part of the solution.
 
The prayer day meeting will be attended by the Executive Mayor of Johannesburg, Cllr Parks Tau; MEC for Community Safety in Gauteng, Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane; MEC for Social Development in Gauteng, Nandi Mayathula-Khoza; the representatives from National Prosecuting Authority of South Africa (NPA) and various religious groups. These will involve multidisciplinary and inter-departmental teams, and will be a platform for all residents to engage in identifying interventions responsive to their experiences.
 
"The brutal killing of women and children shows that there is a need to move from policy to action and provide stronger focus than ever on prevention and early intervention to support women and children against this scourge”, says Councillor Nonceba Molwele, the Member of the Mayoral Committee for Health and Social Development in the City of Johannesburg.
 
Molwele says that eliminating of violence against women and children has to be a shared responsibility across of society. It could not be achieved by the government alone. The prayer day meeting aims to provide a platform to engage all stakeholders across gender, age and other divides to commit to collectively fight gender violence and child abuse.
 
Members of the media are invited to attend a Prayer Day Meeting that will take place as follows:
 
Date:               Thursday, 10 March 2016
Time:              10h00 – 13h00
Venue:            Wembley Indoor Stadium
                      106 Turffontein Road, Turffontein – Johannesburg
 
END
 
For more information, please contact:
 
Nkosinathi Nkabinde
Communication Specialist
City of Johannesburg
Group Communication & Marketing
E-mail: nkosinathin@joburg.org.za