The pain a woman feels is temporary, the strength she has is eternal.

Being a part of the Miss Garden Route and Klein Karoo 2013 has exposed me in a raw, up front manner to something we are all too well acquainted with in South Africa; high levels of abuse of woman and children. This being the major theme of the week we have spent in Mossel bay with the finalists and sponsors I decided to do some research: I wanted to dissect the idea of abuse, know the demographics and delve into the statistics and psychology behind abusers and victims, and my findings were shocking and unexpected to say the least. Reason being not because I learnt how prevalent gender specific abuse is, we know that 1 in every 4 woman in South Africa are survivors of domestic abuse. Not because I learnt the negative affects and emotional and physical consequences that abuse has on woman and children, we know this too.. but because I learnt more about myself, my purpose and my personal role as a woman within our gender and the responsibilities I have to speak out on behalf of those affected by these horiffic acts on a daily basis. By looking into and thinking critically about the motivation, actions and the effects of battering of women and children, I realised that many girls, wives, daughters, sisters succumb to abuse in any of it's 6 forms on a daily basis in varying intensities, without even realising it. I learnt that if women as a collective do not respect each other, encourage and support one another, how can we create a society that does not accept abuse, even in the slightest? Whether you are experiencing abuse or not, we, me included, have a responsibility to one another to spread the word to every inch of this world that we will not back down, we will not accept pain or mistreatment and we will support our fellow woman until woman are treated as they should be.
We, myself included, have the responsibility to treat each other with utmost kindness, if we do not, how do we expect reform? As sisters, wives, mothers, daughters and leaders of a new world standard, we as woman need to stand up, together and say no to abuse. A collective "no". A "no" that is as powerful as the hurtful words or fist of any man or woman. A "no" that will end the abuse of women and children for all times.