Parkop enforces zero tolerance on violence

By OGIA MIAMEL
National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop says there should be zero tolerance on gender- based violence this year.
Parkop told the opening of GBV Human Rights Defenders (HRD) Training on community referral and mentoring services yesterday that this should be a year to stand up against GBV.
“Adopt an approach where we have zero tolerance to GBV in our city. Stand up where there is some level of violence against women or girls,” he said.
“We will stand up and say no. We will take action. If we have to prosecute somebody let’s prosecute them, if we are to arrest somebody lets arrest them, don’t let them get away.”
He said the training would equip the them to effectively carry out their work in rolling back the prevalence of GBV.
“Human behaviour will not change unless we start to take action. People will not realise or they may believe that violence is normal so they keep on doing it. This needs to be pointed out and corrected,” Parkop said.
“The biggest challenge we face in our country is enforcement. We must enforce the laws to deal with GBV.
“We have built a lot of judicial tools and there are awareness tools available. Unless we enforce these people won’t take these laws seriously. Our visions and goals to stop  GBV amounts to nothing because the perpetrators will get away.”
Department of Justice and Attorney-General Secretary Dr Lawrence Kalinoe said the training received must be translated into action that would bring change to the communities.