Cape Town - Several organisations working in Delft have banded together through an initiative of the Department of Social Development (DSD) to address the high rates of gender-based violence (GBV) in the area.
The provincial department launched its Victim Empowerment Programme Forum and Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Ambassadors Programme at the Delft Civic Centre, yesterday.
Present were representatives from the Delft police, Delft Seniors Forum, Delft Neighbourhood Watch, Delft Community Health Centre, Thuthuzela Care Centre, Trauma Centre, Safeline, Molo Songololo, Touching Nations, National Prosecuting Authority, Department of Health and Wellness, Police Oversight and Community Safety GBV Unit, and the Gender-Based Violence Command Centre, with Social Development MEC Sharna Fernandez and Police Oversight and Community Safety MEC Reagen Allen.
Crime Statistics for the fourth quarter of the 2022/2023 financial year placed the Delft police station at No 8 nationally and No 1 in the province with the most reported cases of sexual offences.
It had 65 cases from January to March this year. Last year, 98 sexual offences were reported from January to March. Delft police station was also the ninth nationally and the top police station in the province for the most reported cases of rape, with 49 cases from January to March this year.
The number of reported cases of rape reached 69 in the same period last year.
For sexual assault, Delft was in third place nationally and provincially with 11 reported cases from January to March, and 22 cases in the same period last year.
Social Development GBV social worker for Delft, Katlego Phiri, said 25 ambassadors had completed the training.
“The ambassadors already serve as first responders in the community, so they do deal with GBV cases. So they will be rendering psychosocial support to victims of GBV in the community of Delft,” Phiri said.
The ambassadors will be recognisable by their GBV ambassador sashes.
The department also launched a help desk at the DSD satellite office on the corner of Knorhoek and Voorbrug streets, and a hotline and after hours service will be launched next month.
Fernandez said the Victim Empowerment Forum would meet on August 23.
“The area-based team is an initiative that's part of the safety plan and that is to allow us to focus on areas where crime is the highest. We cannot as a government do it on our own, we require what is called a whole-of-society approach,” she said.
“Our GBV ambassadors are volunteering their time to ensure that Delft residents are made aware of the support services available to victims of violence. This is an important step in the fight against GBV because there are many people out there who still do not know how to access services.”
shakirah.thebus@inl.co.za