Minister in the Presidency responsible for Women, Youth and People with Disabilities Maite Nkoana-Mashabane says she’s deeply alarmed by the number of calls that her department has received from women who are trapped with abusive partners during the lockdown period.
The Gender-Based Violence Command Centre has received three times higher than the usual amount of calls from women since the lockdown took effect.
Nkoana-Mashabane says gender-based violence is not part of South African culture.
“Women must feel safe in their communities, in their homes, in churches. Well, if there’s somebody in the house who is presently experiencing that, please let’s share this number – 080 00 150 150 or the usual 10111 of the police.”
She has urged communities to support women.
In the video below, Minister Nkoana-Mashabane expresses concern over GBV incidents:
Earlier this week, Police Minister Bheki Cele announced that his department had received more than 87 000 gender-based violence-related calls in the first week of the 21-day lockdown.
Cele says the cases include that of a police officer who is accused of raping his wife.
“Since it started, 87 000 people have phoned. Reporting that there might be a gender-based violence in the houses. So I wouldn’t know how many have been arrested, but I know that the police that raped the wife has been arrested,” says Cele.
According to reports, an estimated 3.3 million people and 10 million children are exposed to domestic violence each year.
In the video below, is a discussion on GBV and how victims can be protected:
Below is an infographic of facts on gender-based violence:
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