GBV victims shun safe houses

Heather Charema Chinhoyi Bureau
The Mashonaland West provincial gender-based violence shelter built to accommodate survivors awaiting legal recourse is being under-utilised owing to lack of sensitisation and marketing, a Family AIDS Caring Trust (FACT) official has said.

The shelter, built by Government in partnership with FACT and other stakeholders, can assist a maximum of 20 survivors at a time.

The safe house was built to be an alternative shelter for GBV survivors while protecting them from further harm from perpetrators.

Victims also receive support and legal advice.

Speaking at a Victim Friendly Unit stakeholder meeting in Chinhoyi recently, FACT district support officer Mr Kumbirai Chiguma said the shelter had only assisted four survivors this year.

He said the shelter had the potential to assist more survivors if it was marketed.

“We have had quite a number of GBV cases, but still there is need for the shelter to be embraced by all our stakeholders and help more victims of gender-based violence in our province.

“In January, we only received four survivors, the shelter is expected to accommodate 20 survivors so we would like to call on all stakeholders to join hands together and help these survivors as they wait for the court ruling,” Mr Chiguma said.

He said most survivors were worried about being confined to the shelter.

“A challenge that we are also facing is that most survivors do not want to be in a closed environment.

“They want to stay in touch with the outside world whereas the shelter is closed and their movements are limited,” he said.

Mr Chiguma said other funding partners were willing to expand to other districts in the province.

“They want to invest and build more shelters in other districts of the province, this means we still have work to do and as stakeholders we need to make more referrals and market the shelter.

“From the police to the courts, there are a lot of survivors who tend to be stranded and desperate; they all need our assistance and can be accommodated at the shelter,” he said.

He urged prosecuting authorities and Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs officials, as well as Victim Friendly Unit stakeholders to identify and recommend survivors for admission into the safe house whose location is secret.

FACT works with the Ministry of Women and Youth Affairs, prosecution authorities and other Government departments.