adminDaisy Jeremani Gender Editor
IN response to high figures of Gender Based Violence (GBV) and rape in Matabeleland South, the Ministry of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development would, together with a number of partners set up a one-stop centre for victims in the province.
In an interview, the district development officer for Matabeleland South, Merjury Sikundla said the intimate partner violence or sexual assault centres, also referred to as one-stop centres provide multi-sectoral case management for survivors, including health, welfare, counselling, and legal services in one location.
She said the idea was mooted in the ministry’s gender department in response to a high number of cases in the province.
Sikundla said the ministry was doing this together with relevant donors and support groups and most importantly the communities of Matabeleland South.
“This idea was mooted after a government realisation that there was a need for a safe haven for sexual and gender-based violence victims,” the district development officer said.
The one stop-centre will include a hospital, safe homes, police base, social welfare, legal and counselling services.
As a result this will improve access to medical, psychological, and economic support services for victims and also strengthen the response to their legal and health needs.
“There are distances to all these facilities and most of the time, victims will be further traumatised by being referred from one office to another. This time the interagency unit will be under one safe environment,” she said.
So for victims, the centralised system, reduces the stress of having to deal with multiple service providers. Furthermore, victims who receive immediate care and counselling recover more steadily and are less likely to need long-term care.
The ministry will also be looking for a buy in from the community and will urge people to support the project in cash or kind.
The Mayor of Gwanda, Councillor Knowledge Ndlovu said they have bought into the idea and already the municipality’s engineers were working on identifying land for the project. “This is a noble idea that will benefit the community and we are 100 percent behind it and will be offering land for the project,” he said.
The mayor said given some of the statistics on sexual violence and GBV cases the province holds, this will be the much needed safety net for victims.
The district development officer said though this facility will serve all the nine districts of Matabeleland South, there was hope that eventually the districts will also build similar centres.
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