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PRETORIA, South Africa, Aug 9, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Thousands of women re-enacted a famous anti-apartheid march through Pretoria, South Africa, Wednesday, protesting violence against women and child abuse.
Supported by politicians and women who participated in the 1956 march, the re-enactment pointed out South Africa has the world's highest number of reported rapes and other forms of domestic violence, with a South African woman killed every six hours by an intimate partner.
President Thabo Mbeki called domestic violence the country's new "scourge," and promised to take new steps to protect women.
"We have to defend the view that women's rights are human rights," the BBC quoted him as saying.
The original action protested the so-called pass laws that forced black people to carry passbooks with them at all times under apartheid's racial separation system.
"We regard Aug. 9 as a celebration of victory over apartheid," said Sophia Williams de Bruyn, an organizer of the original march.
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
