Photo: Radio Okapi

File photo: The Sixteen Days of Activism Against Gender Violence campaign that runs annually from 25 November to 10 December is this year running under the banner "from peace in the home to peace in the world: Let's challenge militarism and end violence against women."

Pretoria — The Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities, Lulu Xingwana, is expected to lead efforts to find appropriate strategies to eliminate gender-based violence in South Africa at a Gender-Based Violence Summit next week.

The summit will examine the root causes of gender-based violence and come up with clear and practical strategies to fight violence against women and children.

The summit will take place in Johannesburg on Monday and Tuesday next week.

"Despite South Africa's constitutional and legislative protection, as well as various programmes of government, violence based on gender and sexual orientation remains at an unacceptable level.

"The violence takes different forms such as sexual harassment, abuse, assault, rape, domestic violence and other cultural practices that are harmful to women and children," said the department.

At the summit, Xingwana will not only outline the nature and gravity of gender-based violence in the country but also lead a process of developing practical and sustainable solutions against gender-based violence.