Get up and stand up for your rights

Members of the Rand West City Brigades are committed to minimising the abuse and violence against people of the region, and they’re calling on the law to deal with abusers firmly.

The members of the Brigades, underwritten by the Gauteng Department of Community Safety, said during their door-to-door campaign they wanted victims to speak out and be protected against any further domestic abuse behind closed doors.

We’re catering for victims of abuse who aren’t comfortable to speak at police stations, and those who may feel that their cases aren’t treated as matters urgency,” said one of the members, Matshepo Lehana.

She said as the Bigades they have a mandate to make sure that they get all the information from the victim, and depending on the nature of their case the victim is then referred to other agencies such as social workers or Victim Empowerment Centres (VECs).

“We will follow up on the victims’ cases to find out if they’d been assisted to their fullest satisfaction,” Lehana said.

If victims have not been assisted the Brigades have powers to escalated their complaints to a magistrates’ court to fast-track the matter.

Lehana added that the notion that gender-based violence only affects women should change because they help children and men affected by the same scourge.

We do listen to men and we make sure that we provide them with the help they need. We also make sure that proper procedures are followed as we do when we help women.”

She added that the tendency to drop charges prematurely could cause complications and possibly put victims’ lives in danger, especially in cases where victims depend on abusers financially. Victims often fear that is if their abusers are sent to jail they will have no food on their table – even more so if they have children.

“People tend to drop charges haphazardly, without any guarantee that abusers will stop their abusive behaviour, but in many cases, we’ve seen that they end up suffering more abuse that may lead to loss of lives. As Brigades in Rand West City, we urge people to stand up for themselves and speak out against their abusers,” Lehana said.