Shining the light on GBV
With 16 Days of Activism taking place nationally, Education of Hope Africa highlights issues affecting women and children.
With South Africa having the highest rates of gender-based violence (GBV), 16 Days of Activism hopes to not only bring awareness to the issues faced by women and children but also empower the vulnerable.
On November 30 various government stakeholders and civil society organisations like Education of Hope Africa came together to bring awareness to the issues that many women and children face and provide various solutions in their programme to solve GBV and the abuse of vulnerable children, at Chief Mogale Hall in Kagiso.
According to programme co-ordinator, Timothy Zulu, the Education of Hope Africa programme is in partnership with various public stakeholders that are conducting a programme called GBV and HIV Prevention Education and Outreach.
“The programme seeks to reach marginalised and vulnerable people in the townships and informal settlements. This intervention is led by responsive leaders who aim to consider the needs, concerns, and experiences of excluded groups,” Zulu said.
The organisation likes to take a human rights-based approach to understand community GBV and HIV dynamics and work with the community through coordination. They use a variety of interventions that seek to address challenges faced by vulnerable groups of the population in the country that require adequate monitoring as well as information on key indicators that can be used for monitoring.
Vulnerable groups (women and children) are defined as a part of the South African population that experiences a higher risk of poverty and social exclusion than the general population.
The programme had guest speakers who appealed to the community to brief them about 16 Days of Activism and provide solutions for issues that heavily affect the vulnerable.
The main objectives addressed at the programme included:
• To educate communities on gender equality-related legislation
• To explore how vulnerable groups define human rights violations and gender discrimination based on their experiences
• To empower women and girls to report violations perpetrated against them
• To do awareness raising on gender equality, right to dignity and safety
• To examine the intersection of efforts of local stakeholders preventing and responding to the needs of vulnerable groups
The programme reaches out to many communities across South Africa and the continent as a whole to not only aid women and children but to also empower them.
