Violence Against Women
Source: The New Age
UmlaziI township, south of Durban, is a hot spot for rape and domestic violence against women and children.
And many rape incidents here are committed by close family members or acquaintances of the victims.
This was revealed yesterday during the opening of a new facility at the local police station catering for victims of rape and domestic abuse.
The facility has rooms for women and children who have been abused or raped in their homes. It will be taken care of by well-trained police officers and have special counselling rooms for women and children who had been victimised.
The facility, an initiative of the Umlazi community police forum, is part of a project called Yithi Abazali (We are parents) that aims to help both family members of the perpetrators of crime and their victims.
Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa said Umlazi was chosen as a pilot project as studies had shown the townships had a high number of rapes and cases of domestic violence against women and children.
"The launch of Yithi Abazali campaign, here in Umlazi, a township that for many years suffered a negative connotation as one of the most dangerous in South Africa, is fitting," he said.
He said the campaign's key focus areas were substance abuse, assisting rape survivors, reducing teenage pregnancies, programmes for school leavers and assisting unemployed youth to find work.
"It will also provide entrepreneurial skills and assist youths with a criminal past," he said.
Mthethwa had a strong warning for men who perpetrated crime such as rape and domestic violence. He said the challenge for the police was that people often opened cases of rape and domestic violence but were later persuaded by relatives and neighbours to close those cases.
"Our message is clear to those men who abuse women, not only because this is women's month but beyond: we will intensify our focus on such scoundrels.
"Any abusive so-called 'man' deserves to rot in jail for being a coward who rapes vulnerable and helpless women.
"I have accordingly instructed police to ensure they show no mercy to such cowards," Mthethwa said.
The Yithi Abazali project has trained 126 men from the township who will teach other men parenting skills, responsible alcohol consumption, about HIV-Aids and women and children abuse.
Twenty women were trained to teach others about these skills.
Many women at yesterday's function said the project would assist in ridding the township of the status of being rape and crime capital.
Nompumelelo Sithole, a mother and secretary of the Umlazi community police forum, told The New Age yesterday they wanted to deal a decisive blow to crime and abuse of women and children in the area.
"Some of the mothers here defend their children who have committed serious crime. By so doing they are actually killing their children," she said.
Sithole said Umlazi people had been worried about family members who raped children and parents who hid this from the wider community and the police.
"The incidence of uncles who rape and impregnate their nieces is very high here.
"What is worse is parents who sweep these things under the carpets. We are saying we are tired of this and it must stop," she said.