Domestic violence escalates despite 16 days of activism against it

Despite the worldwide campaign opposed to violence against women and children which runs from November 25 to December 10, a Pretoria based non-government organisation (NGO) reported a concerning escalation in cases of domestic violence during this period.

The 16 days of activism against women and children abuse running from November 25 to December 10 aims to raise awareness of the negative impact that violence and abuse have on women and children and to rid society of abuse permanently.

In an interview with the eNCA, the CEO of the NGO Sinoville Crises Centre, Colleen Strauss, said she did not understand what led to the sharp increase in the number of cases of gender-based violence the centre was handling.

“But it can be because of the economic situation that the people are facing and the festive season that we are going in, so the people are abusing more alcohol, they are just more relaxing and then at the end of the day, with the abuse of alcohol and other drugs, this then happens,” Strauss said.

She said some of the domestic violence cases reported to the centre had been serious with victims requiring medical attention and “we had to have the husbands removed from the house”.

Strauss said the escalation in cases of domestic violence reported to the centre had been “particularly bad” in 2018 compared to previous years.

“In the previous years, we didn’t pick it up that much over this season, but definitely, in this week alone we had six serious domestic violence cases where police had to go out and assistance had to be given.”

Job losses leading to a decrease in financial stability and financial strain and an increase in drug abuse in areas serviced by the centre contributed to the sharp escalation in the cases of domestic violence, Strauss said.

“So we are very worried about the coping skills that the members are taking on to deal with things happening. So drug abuse and alcohol abuse and then we say the domestic violence that followed on that.”

Strauss said alcohol abuse led to one losing their ability to think clearly, leading them to act inappropriately, which may then result in abuse.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.