Luanda, ANGOLA, November 25 - The Speaker of the National Assembly, Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos, on Monday, urged the society to promote an environment of permanent combat against domestic violence, whose consequences are detrimental to people's lives and dignity.,

He said it was necessary to mobilize everyone in this struggle, "for the sake of the health of our society and of Angolan families."

 

The Speaker of the National Assembly was addressing at the opening of the Forum on Domestic Violence, promoted by the Group of Women Parliamentarians and attended by the First Lady of the Republic, Ana Dias Lourenço.

 

Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos considered that the biggest challenge is to look at the causes of gender-based violence, based on stereotypes such as discrimination, inequality and power difference, to shape responses that aim not only to mitigate the problem, but to protect the victims.

 

He also said that Parliament has been making efforts to propose to society a new way of living, stressing that the passage of laws that discipline and sanction deviant behavior and violence is the visible part of the contribution of this sovereign body.

 

Fernando da Piedade regretted the situations of domestic violence in Angolan society. "These are the situations that bring us together in this forum, aware that the struggle is common, of determined women and men."

 

For the Speaker of the Angolan National Assembly, human nature must be valued more in the context of the universal declaration of human rights.

 

Before auxiliary members of the Government, MPs, diplomatic corps accredited in the country, among others, he made it known that the proposed solutions (legal and social) have not been shown to be sufficient, nor capable of minimizing the harmful consequences caused by the violence practiced in the country within families.

 

Unfortunately, due to various cultural and religious factors, many of the practices of domestic violence, especially where women are victims, are tolerated by some cultures and allowed by some religions, making their combat more difficult.

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