FAITH, HAS FAITH IN VSS BILL
By Nande Fayo
Ms Faith Roberts - Deputy Director: Intergovernmental Relations in the HOD's office The introduction of the Victim Support Service (VSS) Bill by government is a step towards the right direction in combating the escalating rate of Gender Based Violence. The COVID-19 Pandemic has had a negative impact on everyone, women and children have been the hardest hit.
This is according to Ms Faith Roberts, a Deputy Director responsible for Intergovernmental Relations in the office of the Eastern Cape Head of Department. Roberts, who has been one of the people who are at the forefront of fighting the scourge by conducting awareness programmes with the aim of educating, motivating and inspiring GBV survivors in Buffalo City district. The VSS Bill seeks to put the victim of gender Based Violence at the centre of criminal justice system in order to ensure that the rights applicable to the perpetrator are also the rights entitled to the victim.
Roberts is using community radio and TV stations to get her message across. She says while the social conditions that contribute to gender based-violence in our country are complex and rooted in our divided past, the greater empowerment of GBV survivors goes a long way to strengthen the fight against abuse. “In most cases, the righst of the victim are sidelined, more emphasis is put on various ways of trying to rehabilitate the perpetrator. These are some of the reasons I decide to take it to the podium in order to give hope and find ways for GBV survivors to “speak out” and seek help. She says,as a survivor of a six year long domestic abuse, is lucky she is still alive. “I regard myself as GBV Survivor because during my years in my previous marriage to my ex-husband, I endured physical abuse from the very early stages of it. The abuse would mostly happen during weekends when my ex-husband was coming from his joyous outings with friends. He would come back drunk and provoke an argument in front of our children or sometimes infront of his friends or neighbours. But I must say, despite the physical abuse I endured, I had hoped that he would come to his senses one day and stop it, but it never stopped”.
She says its hardly a day passes without being exposed to heart-wrenching stories of women and girls who have suffered violence and abuse. “Often, these brutal acts are perpetrated by someone they know in the sanctity of their homes or behind closed doors. Working for a department that has a mandate of leading government efforts in the fight against GBV has also given me experience on empowering the vulnerable groups of our society. Also,the employment of Social Workers focusing on the enhancement of services rendered in adding psychosocial intervention is another step in fighting the scourge.
In the first week of the lockdown alone, the South African Police Service (SAPS) has recorded 2300 complaints of GBV. Reports suggests that the number of GBV cases has risen by 500 percent since the start of the Covid-19 lockdown. The Eastern Cape department has a budget allocation of R38.9million for Victim empowerment and GBV programme for 2020/2021 financial year.
The contributing factors from this vicious act is mostly affecting innocent family members, in most cases the well-being of the children. It affects them emotionally and psychologically. It destabilise the mental concentration of the children both at home and at school. It also instil anger to the children towards the “perpetrator.” It creates an unhealthy family home, where there is fear and insecurities to all affected, moreover the “Victim” which is the mother in most cases.