An NGO from George in the Western Cape has launched a new App to help victims of gender-based violence.
The App enlists the help of an entire community of field workers, volunteers and SAPS, who will be available to provide immediate support to victims and their families.
Gender-based violence is widely regarded as South Africa’s secondary pandemic. God Cares International has spent years providing much-needed support to victims. They’ve now taken it to a new level with the help of technology and are roping in a network of communities to be a support base for victims.
The NGOs founder Debbie Pijoos says their volunteers will be available all over the country.
“From this moment and when volunteers can start booking on, we will see what the need is. But volunteers in a specific area in towns, they need to book on as volunteers and from there we will be able to assist them in setting up the platforms and intervention strategies that we have in place that will be rolled out in George.”
App developer Mathew Bellas and Pijoos worked together for six months to develop the platform. Bellas says it is currently in its testing phase in George before it goes live nationally.
“So the App will be live on the Google Play Store. It’s not live at the moment. It is on the Google Play Store but for closed testing. We will open it up to the public officially as a tool they can use within the next three weeks.
God Cares International has a mantra, “Look at the root and not just the fruit.” It encourages help for GBV perpetrators with the App also offering them access to mentors and counsellors.
Ethel Potgieter is a GBV survivor who suffered years of abuse in her marriage. She is now a GBV activist.
“Looking back, if I had the tools that are available now, even then my husband could have had an opportunity also to get help and who knows how that would have affected his life. He no longer is with us. He passed away in 2020. Just thinking even if the App was available to him because there’s many a time he would say I don’t know why I’m doing this, I don’t know how to get out of this.
Another new concept for the NGO is the training of GBV information officers in the workplace. A few companies in the region already have these officers in place to offer the necessary support to staff.
