Picture for illustration. Over 200 women were protesting in Zandspruit, 30 June 2020. The women who blocked roads with burning tyres and debris were protesting against the men in the area, saying they are tired of being abused and raped and feared for their children's safety. Pictures: Tracy Lee Stark
Communities marred by gender-based violence (GBV) can’t get by on campaigns alone, nongovernmental organisation (NGO) Not In My Name says, following the staggering number of cases reported this year.
This as the Gauteng government has launched one of many anti-GBV campaigns.
Community-based interventions were the key to solving the puzzle of GBV in South Africa, the Gauteng government has found after GBV cases soared in the province this year.
According to the latest data from the health department’s Clinical Forensic Medical Services and Thuthuzela Care Centre, Gauteng had 11 493 reported sexual offences and 5 201 domestic violence cases in the 2019-2020 financial year.
But the figures could be far worse as these organisations only dealt with the two forms and not the other three forms of GBV – economic/financial abuse, verbal abuse and psychological abuse.
Therefore, this was an underestimation of true extent of the problem in the province, said Gauteng government spokesman Motalatale Modiba.
Speaking to residents in Diepsloot where almost 70 cases of sexual assault were reported, Mogeru Morewane, chief director for Johannesburg health, said there was clearly an urgent need to address issues that result in GBV in the area.
She alluded to government’s promise that departments would band together with NGOs to go on awareness campaigns.
But Not In My Name spokesman Themba Masango said one of the most desperate areas of outreach for NGOs were the hundreds of under-resourced women’s shelters which take in many victims.
He said the financial implications of the lockdown not only worsened the phenomenon, it also crippled NGOs trying to do something about it.
Morewane said one of the realities of the Covid-19 pandemic was its contribution to the increase in incidents of violence against women and children.
“What’s key in this year’s campaign is the involvement of men, who are to a greater extent identified as perpetrators. This is not to say, however, that boys and men are not victims of GBV, but it is to rather recognise the positionality and contribution of both men and women to the persistence of GBV.”
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