Local youth tackle abuse through drama
The drama is aimed at all members of the community from the elderly to the youth as everyone is directly or indirectly affected.
To address the scourge of domestic violence in the community, members of Ivory Park SAPS Youth Desk have initiated a drama project to highlight the seriousness of the problem.
The project is aimed at all members of the community, from the young to the elderly, as everyone is directly or indirectly affected by domestic violence.
The youth desk has already visited community halls and schools. More visits are in the pipeline.
Ivory Park SAPS receives many domestic violence complaints on a daily basis.
“What we as the youth have identified is that someone related to the victim or the perpetrator is aware of what is going on but people fail to report it, thus leaving the victims at the mercy of the perpetrators,” says Sgt Justice Sekgobela, coordinator of the youth desk at Ivory Park SAPS.
Sekgobela says the youth desk intends to reach all schools and community halls by December.
They will emphasise the dangers of not reporting abuse early enough, or not reporting it at all, ignoring children when they report abuse by an elder and the danger of not getting out of an abusive domestic relationship.
Brig David Mbongeni Ngcobo, the station head of Ivory Park SAPS, has welcomed the initiative as they need to use all platforms in order to get the message across.
“Storytelling, including drama, remains one of the most effective form of communication. Considering the seriousness of domestic violence, we need to continuously communicate with our communities about this matter,” said Ngcobo.
He appealed to the community to attend these gatherings as they can be educational and informative.
