The Western Cape government has described their Thuthuzela Care Centres as a haven for gender-based violence victims as they provide psychosocial, medical, and legal services.
This initiative is being driven by the NPA, the Provincial Departments of Social Development (DSD) and Health and Wellness.
Since 2019, over 21 000 people per year have received psychosocial support from TCCs and DSD-supported GBV shelters in the Western Cape.
During the visits to the TCCs this past weekend at the Stellenbosch TCC, the NPA's Special Director of the Sexual Offences and Community Affairs unit, Advocate Bonnie Currie-Gamwo, said: “Collective coordinated interventions are needed to address the scourge of gender-based violence.
“Public-private partnerships are crucial to ensuring the sustainability of TCCs. We want to make TCCs more accessible by having more of these facilities in communities, and for that we need private sector support.”
Provincial MEC for Social Development, Jaco Londt, said that there are many more women facing abuse daily who do not report it or withdraw the case out of fear.
“This week we launched a GBV Ambassador programme in Grabouw, where more than a dozen residents have volunteered to be our eyes and ears in their communities to help end the scourge of GBV.
“We need more people to stand up and make a difference, including companies who can take hands with us to expand these support services,” Londt said.
Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness MEC Mireille Wenger said fighting GBV is not the job of just one department, agency, or NGO. “It requires a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, as demonstrated by these incredible TCCs.
“The coordinated services provided at these centres ensure that victims are cared for and improve the ability of law enforcement agencies to bring offenders to justice,” Wenger said.
Wenger said a total of nine Thuthuzela Care Centres are operational across the province, with a tenth one to be opened later this month in Mitchells Plain.
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