Join fight against GBV
This event was held last week at the Atrium Hall in Warwick Junction.
IN a bid to address gender-based violence (GBV), the Durban Central police station hosted an awareness event.
The event was held in the form of a dialogue and offered victims of GBV a platform to talk about their experiences.
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Spokesperson for Durban Central SAPS, Captain Muzi Maphumulo said many of the attendees were from nearby shelters and were victims of different abuse, such as domestic violence, rape or were teenagers who ran away from home.
“We thought of engaging with this topic through open dialogue. Many of the victims shared their experiences and we encouraged them to report any form of abuse to the police. We take these matters seriously and, as the SAPS, we have to do everything we can to address GBV in Durban and, indeed, the country,” he said.
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Melisa Ramasamy, fromm the Department of Justice, who also spoke at the event, said South Africa has one of the highest incidents of domestic violence in the world.
“The Domestic Violence Act was amended in 1998 to provide protection for victims of domestic violence. The main act of domestic violence is physical abuse and can include any form of stabbing, punching, kicking, or biting the victim. The Act also covers emotional, verbal and psychological abuse, this abuse involves constant insult and name-calling. Economic abuse can be, for example, accessing a joint account for personal use without concern of the victim,” she said.
The Durban Central SAPS community safety and liaison, Mpume Jobe said, “Our concern stems from the cases we’ve seen and the stats released by police minister, Bheki Cele. There are also people who do not know they are being abused and part of the awareness campaign is recognising forms of abuse,” she said.
“The abuse of children has tripled in the last three months. This event was to give an avenue to show those who are abused where to turn to, what are the processes to acquire a protection order and where the safe houses within eThekwini are located,” said Jobe.
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