Fundraiser to celebrate Jes Foord’s decade of hope
To celebrate the foundation's anniversary Key Events will be hosting a ladies breakfast fundraiser, Bold, Barefoot and Beautiful, at the Durban Country Club on 27 July.
THE Jes Foord Foundation, which has assisted thousands of rape survivors since it opened its doors, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. The auspicious occasion comes during a time when femicide and child abuse have dominated headlines, highlighting the importance of the foundation’s efforts.
It has been estimated that a rape occurs every 17 seconds in South Africa and as many as one in four women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime.
What’s more, only 20 per cent of incidents of rape in the country are ever reported.
The foundation delivers, on average, just over 300 rape comfort bags a month; 60 per cent of which are for children, while 15 per cent are for men (predominantly teenage boys), said the organisation’s founder, Jes Foord. She said the organisation was also dealing with an increasing number of ‘corrective rape’ cases, which is considered a form of hate crime against mostly gay women in the community.
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Foord, who launched the foundation after she was brutally gang raped in 2008, seemed optimistic as she shared the organisation’s goal of reaching 110 000 people with their awareness campaign this year.
“Last year we reached 47 000 people. So, this year we are going big. We focus on underprivileged communities, where there is still a lot of stigma, as well as schools,” she explained.
In addition to educating people on consent, they are also informing sexual assault victims about Thuthuzela Care Centres where they can seek help.
“When working in communities we support them by identifying individual roleplayers (such as gogos) or established centres where we can train people and upscale the community, so that when we leave the community they have these ongoing sources of help. And then we step in should they ever need additional assistance,” she said.
The foundation has also established a trauma centre, which has provided free counselling to over 2 170 rape survivors. Through The Handbag Project the team has packed and delivered over 50 000 comfort bags to rape victims, and through the awareness programme the foundation has reached over 367 000 people.
“I would like to thank my team who have gone above and beyond. I would not have been able to do it without them,” she said.
To celebrate the foundation’s anniversary Key Events will be hosting a ladies breakfast fundraiser, Bold, Barefoot and Beautiful, at the Durban Country Club on 27 July from 9am to 11.30am. Tickets cost R350 per person which includes a breakfast, pedi stations, inspirational talks and goodie bags.
Contact Tanya on tanya@key-events.co.za or Nikki on nikki@key-events.co.za.
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