Movement fights abuse

Caswell Men’s Movement (CMM), who used to focus mainly on the fight against domestic violence where women abuse men, will now focus on all kinds of domestic abuse.
Everyone at home including women, children and men can experience this frightening act.
The CMM of KwaThema aims to raise awareness of the abuse among all those affected.
It held a public meeting last Thursday in KwaThema to discuss the phenomenon, highlighting that although many men are abused, there are few statistics available because fear of their image being dented often prevents victims from reporting the crimes against them.
Present were KwaThema police officials, including communications officer Captain Ntsane Ntsane and acting visible policing commander Captain Sandile Ndaba, as well as members of the People Opposing Women Abuse Organisation (POWA).
Speaking to those who were present CMM president Caswell Gxowa said his movement has noticed that not only abused men keep quite about abuse, but some women also do not report the abuse to the police as they fear for their lives.
“Some abused women confirmed that they did not report the abuse because they are dependent on their husbands and that their abusers threatened to hurt them if they do so,” said Gxowa.
He advised women and children to report domestic abuse to their local POWA members who will report the matter to the police.
Capt Ndaba said abused people must not fear to report the abuse to the police.
“Make the police your friend and be free to report abuse to them in order to get help,” he said.
He also encouraged community members to know their local police station’s contact number so that they can call and get help from the police as soon as possible when abuse occurs.