Kagiso women rise against GBV and assault
The Clinical Forensic Services team at Leratong Hospital's Crisis Centre addressed the Kagiso community's women on issues they face every day.
Women of Kagiso as well as the Clinical Forensic Services team at Leratong Hospital stood in solidarity during an awareness event held recently.
Topics covered included gender-based violence (GBV) and the avenues available if you have been a victim of such crimes. The theme for the day centred around the need to empower women to stand up for their rights and remember their might.
The Clinical Forensic Services is based at Leratong’s Crisis Centre. This centre works with the police and in these types of cases, the centre works directly with collecting and assembling samples for evidence following a sexual assault from a victim admitted to the hospital.
They offer referrals for rehabilitation and counselling to victims and post-support. The day was also supported by the centre’s partners, LifeLine and the Boithuto Lesedi Services, which offer psycho-social support and trauma containment along with outreach programmes on GBV.
The women also received self-defence tips and were told that courage includes standing up for the next victim of domestic violence. They were told that you can now report a case of GBV on behalf of someone else and even open a protection order on behalf of a victim against their offender.
Pumla Mabilo from the Churches United against GBV also spoke on the day and emphasised the need and importance of penetrating all spheres of society including churches.
“Churches need to encourage victims to report and open cases with the police, rather than have internal arbitrations which are usually not helpful to the victims,” she said.
