16 Days of Activism: Department hosts Gender-Based Violence Workshop

As part of our ongoing 16 Days of Activism commemorations, the Western Cape Department of Social Development hosted a Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Workshop, at its Metro South regional offices.

The Workshop was hosted by social workers from the department’s Victim Empowerment Programme (VEP).

The theme of the Workshop was “Understanding Trauma” and trauma specialist and academic expert, Dr. Mariette van der Merwe, from the North-West University, held a seminar with all stakeholders.

The Workshop looked at new data, and critically evaluated how each stakeholder should tailor their services to understanding the trauma element endured by the victim reporting abuse. This Workshop will help shape best practices from the police station, right through to the shelter for abused victims.

The Workshop was attended by all spheres of government, the NGO sector, and international organizations. Some of the stakeholders present were the;

• South African Police Services,
• National Prosecuting Authority,
• Jelly Beanz and other Child Protection NGOs,
• Shelters for Abused Women,
• Anti-Human Trafficking NGOs,
• Academics from UCT, UWC and North-West University.

Today’s Workshop was important in charting a path forward for all organizations to establish greater cooperation.

Western Cape Social Development MEC, Albert Fritz, opened the Workshop, and stressed the importance of all role players, especially social workers, responding timeously to complaints of child abuse and gender-based violence.

“This year has been a bad one, as we’ve dealt with truly horrific cases of women and child abuse”, said Minister Fritz.

Minister Fritz went on to say, “there must be no space for women and child abusers and murderers in our society, which means our Probation Officers and our partners at the SAPS and NPA must put forward strong cases”.

The Minister later welcomed news of the guilty plea by the murder-accused of 11-year old Stacha Arendse, and called on the courts to impose the maximum sentence.