Institution helps empower women
The IIE’s Varsity College Westville visited the Open Door Crisis Centre to do a presentation on protection orders. This was done to equip the crisis centre staff with tools to empower victims at the women's shelter for abused women, vulnerable children and victims of human trafficking.
IN line with the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children, eleven employees from the Open Door Crisis Care Centre were given an in-depth presentation on protection orders.
The interactive presentation by Ashira Singh, attorney and lecturer at The IIE’s Varsity College Westville, was also done as a CSI initiative.
Singh gave an insight into what a protection order is, when one needs to acquire one, how to apply for one, interim protection orders, being aware of when the order is violated, examples of abuse and an extensive explanation of the Domestic Violence Act.
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This insight provided the staff with the tools to empower the women at the Ikhaya Le Themba women’s shelter for abused women, vulnerable children and victims of human trafficking, which is one of the shelters at the Open Door Crisis Care Centre and which bridges the gap between the vulnerable people in need and their access to justice.
The IIE’s Varsity College’s Juridical Society chairperson and student, Tia Govender, said this initiative was very important as they believe that it will bring some hope to all victims who reach out to the Open Door Crisis Care Centre.
“As the Juridical Society continues to challenge itself outside of the lecture room, members of the society become more inspired to help those in need in terms of access to justice.”
The Juridical Society also reached out to the campus staff and students to donate toiletries and were humbled by the generous donations. The Open Door Crisis Care Centre received a donation of sanitary pads, boxes of toothpaste, toothbrushes, roll-on deodorants, bottles of shampoo, packets of earbuds, bottles of body wash, bottles of body lotion, loofas, bars of soap, tubes of hand lotion and a variety of miscellaneous items, such as lip balm, body butter, facecloths and body scrub.
The social worker at the shelter, Ayanda Sithole, said addressing gender-based violence is one of The Open Door Crisis Care Centre’s main functions.
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“The information shared enabled victims with resources on how to access counselling and psychosocial support, as well as accommodation in the event of domestic violence. The safety of women and their children, how to access protection orders and ensuring their human rights are of vital importance to us.”
She explained that the Open Door Crisis Care Centre operates awareness programmes in 20 surrounding areas on rape, domestic violence, child abuse, trafficking and other major key social issues on a regular basis, educating and creating awareness with the purpose of reducing gender-based violence.
“Our goal is to transform victims to become victorious.”
The Open Door Crisis Care Centre was also introduced to The IIE’s Varsity College Community Law Clinic which strives to provide excellent legal advice and services to those who cannot afford private legal services.
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