Statement by the Minister of Social Development, Ms Bathabile Dlamini, MP during a media briefing on the occasion of the launch of the Pilot Phase of the Command Centre on Gender-Based Violence
Programme Director;
Members of the media;
Ladies and gentlemen;
Top of Form
Good morning.
It is a great honour and pleasure for the Department of Social Development to launch the pilot phase of the Command Centre on Gender Based Violence (GBV). I would like to warmly thank you for your participation in this media briefing. I am particularly pleased to see that we have a sizeable number of journalists and men here today.
This is not a celebratory event, but an part of our government’s on-going campaign to voice our anger that violence against women and children here and across the globe is endemic and unacceptable, and, that we have to find ways of making our homes, communities and countries safe for all, especially for women and children.
Today, we take another step forward in the struggle to eradicate violence against women. For too long, violence against women and children has remained a hidden scandal in our homes and communities.
Ladies and gentlemen, the launching of this initiative today comes at a time when our country is celebrating 20 years of championing the struggle for gender equality. Over the past 20 years we have made impressive progress in freeing women from customs and practices that undermine women’s rights. Progress in meeting basic needs such as housing and access to water has especially benefitted women, redressing past inequalities.
Today, more girls are in school and tertiary institutions than ever before and more women are in employment. In addition, women continue to benefit from economic empowerment programmes and they are the major of social security programmes. While we celebrate these successes, Gender Based Violence remains one of the major challenges confronting South Africa today.
Gender equity is one of our government’s priorities as well as one of key themes of the ANC’s 2014 Election Manifesto.
However, I need to point out that Gender equity cannot be achieved without addressing the scourge of gender-based violence. Gender-based violence is a serious development issue that has substantial impact on the social cohesion and resilience of communities and hence on economic growth and poverty reduction.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are here today for a common purpose, to address Gender Based Violence, one of the most pervasive violations of human rights in the world and one of the greatest threats to development. Gender Based Violence affects all families: rich or poor, big or small. In South Africa, the statistics are just as startling. The Medical Research Council and Gender Links Study of 2011 found that over half of the women in Gauteng have experienced some form of violence in their life-time. Nationally over 71 percent of women are sexually abused and with reports that a woman is raped every 26 seconds.
The Medical Research Council and Gender Links study also reports that 78 percent of men in the province admit to perpetrating some form of violence against women and that 37 percent say that they have raped a woman or a child. Ladies and gentlemen these statistics about the numbers of our fathers, brothers and sons that have admitted to rape is perhaps the scariest of the numbers we are discussing today.
Violence against women takes many forms - physical, sexual, economic, psychological - but all of these represent a violation of human dignity and human rights and have lasting consequences both for women themselves and for their communities.
Ladies and gentlemen, research shows that domestic violence against women remains widespread and under-reported, and that victims of violence are not effectively supported by public services. Insufficient specialised services for women and children who are victims of violence and the absence of professional services to victims is only a few of the reasons for non-reporting.
The high numbers of victims and survivors and the high numbers of perpetrators within our society should shape the approach we take in fighting this scourge. This high prevalence of violence against women in our country means one thing: we all have an obligation to act. One way in which we can collectively respond to this challenge is to empower victims of gender based violence with necessary psycho-social support to rebuild their lives. We must ensure that victims receive support, no matter who they are and where they live. That is the main purpose of the Command Centre on Gender Based Violence.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Command Centre we are launching today forms part of the five-year Programme of Action Plan developed by the Inter-Minister Committee established by Cabinet to investigate the root causes of Gender Based Violence. The pilot phase of this project will run for six months focusing on specific areas in two provinces, namely Hillbrow, Moroka, Sunnyside, Akasia and Alexandra (Gauteng), Edendale and Inanda (KwaZulu-Natal).
This is a 24-hour call centre dedicated to provide support and counselling to victims of Gender-Based Violence. The toll free number to call is 0800 428 428 (0800 GBV GBV) to speak to a social worker for assistance and counselling. Callers can also request a social worker from the Command Centre to contact them by dialling *120*7867# (free) from a cell phone.
To ensure that victims of gender based violence receive necessary support, we have employed a group 75 qualified social workers who have trained on trauma management and customer service. 65 of these social workers, who were previously unemployed, are currently employed in the Command Centre.
The Command Centre is aimed at providing immediate psychological assistance and referral to victims affected by gender-based violence and to assist them in avoiding additional exposure to violence. Additional functionality available to the department on a real time basis includes strategic reporting which will highlight trends in specific locations or types of violence occurring, as well as an indication of demand for social workers in a specific district.
The social worker agents will provide telephonic support and counselling and can direct the victim’s case for follow-up and on-the-field support to a social worker. Social workers in the pilot districts have been provided with training on the Command Centre system and cell phones to provide feedback on those cases directed to them for support and resolution in the field.
In addition to providing immediate telephonic intervention for victims of gender based violence, the Command Centre can also assist in the prosecution of perpetrators as information collected throughout the intervention process by all role players can be made available to the courts as evidence, especially the sexual offences courts that were re-introduced by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. Future collaboration and information sharing with other government departments and agencies as well as non-government organisations (NGOs) will also help us improve the support offered by the Command Centre to victims.
Beyond immediate assistance, victims of gender based violence may need medical and legal assistance, and for that reason our collaboration with key departments such as the South African Police Service, Departments of Justice and Constitutional Development, Health and NGOs on the ground is very important. I will be meeting with the National Police Commissioner this afternoon to discuss how best we can work together on this initiative.
Ladies and gentlemen, other complementary interventions developed and implemented as part of the five-year Programme of Action include the following:
- A Policy Framework and Strategy for the establishment of shelters for victims of domestic violence was developed as part of the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act. 98 shelters for victims of domestic violence have been established and they are managed in partnership with civil society organisations
- Khuseleka One Stop Centres for Victims of Crime and Violence provides services such as counselling, medical treatment, legal and police services under one roof in order to minimise secondary victimisation. A Total of nine One Stop Centres for Victims of Crime have been established in different provinces
- National Policy Guidelines for Victim Empowerment, a policy that guides the implementation of services to victims of crime. It further clarifies the roles of the different stakeholders in the implementation of the Victim Empowerment Programme
- Minimum Standards for Service Delivery in Victim Empowerment provide service providers with information on what is expected of them when rendering services to victims of crime and violence. They also provide clients with information about what to expect from victim empowerment practitioners during service delivery
- National Directory of Services for Victims of Crime and Violence has been developed and it is updated periodically. The National Resource Directory is used by practitioners for referring victims to their nearest service provider
- Generic Set of Indicators for Victim Empowerment has been developed as monitoring and evaluation framework for the Victim Empowerment Sector
- An Integrated Manual for Trauma Counselling was developed and a more than 1800 practitioners from government and civil society organisations were trained
- Every Day Heroes Campaign – the Victim Empowerment Programme (VEP) has develop an Every Day Heroes Brand that is comprised of six cartoon stories on domestic violence, human trafficking, child abuse, sexual assault, abuse of older persons and abuse of people with disabilities. The cartoon booklets have been printed in different languages and distributed in all nine provinces. The Campaign is aimed at mobilising communities to play an active role in the prevention of gender-based violence, and encourage victims to access VEP services.
As I conclude, I would like to thank our partner in the project – the Vodacom Foundation – which has invested R4.2 million for a period of six months to help cover the cost of the information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure and expertise to customise the call centre for the purpose of handling calls from victims of gender-based violence. Your partnership is a good example of corporate citizenship and I hope other corporate organisations will join us when we scale up this initiative.
We remind all South African public that it is everyone’s responsibility to create a safe and secure environment for all of us. Without the commitment from civil society in raising awareness of gender-based violence as well as actively taking a stand by speaking out against it and reporting it to the authorities, we will not achieve our goal of building a free and safe South Africa for all.
I thank you.
