NPO trains religious leaders to assist gender-based-violence victims
For Saydoon Sayed, an executive member of We Will Speak Out South Africa, violence is a tool used to oppress people – and this takes many forms.
FRIDAY, November 25 marked the start of the annual campaign, 16 Days of Activism for no violence against women and children. The campaign runs until December 10, International Human Rights Day.
On the eve of the 16 Days, two civil society organisations, We Will Speak Out SA and the KZN Network on Violence Against Women, hosted a day-long conference in partnership with the eThekwini Municipality on the Status of Women in the Premier’s Office.
The conference followed the second Presidential Summit on gender-based violence and femicide, which reviewed progress and challenges in implementing the National Strategic Plan on GBV and Femicide over the past two years.
This week, Berea Mail sat down to chat with Overport resident, Saydoon Sayed, an executive member of We Will Speak Out South Africa (WWSOSA), a non-profit organisation with a national and global reach.
WWSOSA formed as an informal collective in 2016 and became a NPO and PBO in 2017. WWSOSA formed with the aim of equipping religious leaders to assist survivors of GBV. This was in response to a 2013 study undertaken by the Tear Fund SA where survivors shared their experience with local churches.
“What came out very strongly was that the first place they wanted to go to when something traumatic happened was their church, and it was often the last place they got the support they needed,” reads the WWSOSA website.
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The Durban WWSOSA office, based at the Diakonia Centre, works to equip religious leaders to assist survivors.
“We are trying to get religious leaders to be part of our training as a faith-action collective to end GBV. We are trying our level best to get all religious leaders involved in addressing GBV,” explained Sayed.
“Every religious community has a social arm where they provide service to the needy. When a survivor of GBV seeks assistance, it is important that faith-based organisations render services to them because of the plight they are in,” she added.
The need for this has increased in Durban over the past few years.
“Looking at the last three years of lockdown, we had an increase in GBV. Families didn’t live together all the time – children went to school; parents went to work. During lockdown, the whole family unit had to live in one space 24/7. It became very difficult,” said Sayed.
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“During that time, we received phone calls and tried to listen to people’s challenges and problems and give them some hope. The province then faced two more challenges – the riots and the floods. People lost their jobs, and there has been a real shift from what was normal in 2019. These issues all impact on GBV rates,” she continued.
For Sayed, violence is a tool used to oppress people – and this takes many forms.
“Physical abuse is evident by marks on the body. Violence that is mental is when you keep on hearing that you are not good enough. There is the violence that is physical, as well as mental and psychological abuse. Even in the confines and safety of the home, you will find rape and sexual assault. This continues until the victim is brave enough to stand up and seek help. Often, the victim and perpetrator are in places where they don’t know where to seek help,” she said.
For more information on WWSOSA, visit the website: www.wwsosa.org.za. Visit the Durban office at 11 Diakonia Centre, 20 Diakonia Avenue or call 072 453 7502 or 084 581 0622.
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