Bring all stakeholders into play to end GBV, says Khulisa
A multi-organisational and cultural approach is need to tackle the spiralling incidents of gender-based violence, says Khulisa Social Solutions following a 12-month research project on the subject matter in Alexandra.
As gender-based violence continues to worsen in the country and particularly in Alexandra, Khulisa Social Solutions has called on all civil society organisations to close ranks as they tackle the scourge.
The call was made at a workshop in Alexandra to mark 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women organised by Khulisa to report back on the findings of research conducted in the township.
The Khulisa research was done by Sheri Errington, a research associate at the University of Johannesburg’s Centre for Social Development, who described the issue as complex in nature and cannot be attributed to a single causal factor.
Errington called for what she described as an ecological model of approach to deal with the scourge and called on all civil society organisations to close ranks and work in unionism to tackle the scourge which she said was getting out of hand.
She said the model must involve all civil society groups to be an interplay between various factors that should include the individual, community, economic, religious, and cultural factors interacting at different levels of society.
“Gender-based- violence is such a complex issue in nature and cannot be attributed to a single factor or dealt with in a monopolistic manner but rather harness all civil society organisations to interplay in a concerted effort to come up with concrete solutions that embrace all the factors at play,” Errington said.
She said all these organisations and factors are interlinked to the imbalance of power, gender inequality and discriminatory patriarchal practices against women in societies.
In Alexandra, the Khulisa and Errington research conducted over 12 months using the ecological model of violence with the community of Alexandra as the target population of the study, produced the following results:
• 95% of scholars in Alexandra have been affected by violence
• 5% of scholars in Alexandra have committed violence
• 77% of adults in Alexandra self-diagnose and treat themselves for mental health issues
• 73% of youth do not make use of community parks due to safety concerns and the untidiness of parks
Khulisa founder and managing director Lesley-Ann van Selm said the results of the research were not unique to Alexandra.
“Communities throughout South Africa are faced with the very same challenges. Young people are exposed to violence at a young age, and some of them become offenders at a tender age. Equally, mental health is not tackled actively in communities and people need the support of experts to better cope with the day-to-day challenges,” she added.
