Khanya College took its gender-based violence (GBV) awareness message to households in Eldorado Park Extension 8 and Kersie Dorp during a door-to-door campaign on September 17.

The campaign brought together stakeholders including Eldorado Park SAPS, Elton John Masibambisane Community Centre – JCW, Eldorado Park Women’s Forum, Insika Pillar of Strength, Come Back Mission and God’s Ark Academy.

Nosipho Mdletshe, project coordinator at Khanya College, said the campaign was aimed at raising awareness around GBV, child neglect and substance abuse in the community.

ALSO READ: Soweto awareness event tackles crime, substance abuse and GBV

She said the campaign was also intended to identify people who needed assistance and refer them to organisations that deal with their specific issues.

“We planned this door-to-door event to look at issues around gender-based violence, raising awareness around GBV, but also issues around child neglect that are happening a lot in Extension 8, the issue of drug abuse,” said Mdletshe.Mdletshe said the campaign followed a Women’s Day event where women raised concerns about the high levels of GBV and femicide.

“Women specifically said on that day that they feel like there’s nothing to celebrate. There’s no reason to celebrate Women’s Day when there’s high levels of GBV, when there’s femicide, what is there for us to celebrate,” she said.

She said the organisations involved had identified Extension 8 and Kersie Dorp as areas where they constantly deal with GBV, child neglect, gambling and substance abuse.

“We could have been anywhere in Eldorado Park, but they chose this day and they chose this place specifically because Extension 8 was regarded as a hotspot for these issues,” said Mdletshe.

ALSO READ: Community marches against substance abuse and GBV in Doornkop

Mdletshe said organisations working in the community were doing important work despite having limited budgets.

She said organisations should be given more resources to allow them to assist more people and expand their work in communities.

“If Eldorado Park Women’s Forum can take women and provide a shelter for them and remove them from spaces where they are being violated, that is a win,” she said.

She said government should provide more resources to grassroots organisations because they act as a bridge between communities and government.

“The government then should fund them because they are doing the work that the government should be doing,” said Mdletshe.

ALSO READ: Kliptown outreach supports GBV survivors and families

Queen Mphahlele, a social auxiliary worker at the Joburg Child Welfare, said the campaign was aimed at reminding women that there are stakeholders available to assist them.

She said the organisations were hoping that community members would be open about the challenges they were facing and seek assistance.

“We are out there to alert the women to be safe, to tell them that they are protected and which stakeholders they can be going to in terms of when they are in need,” said Mphahlele.

She encouraged women facing GBV to break their silence and seek help.

“They need to break the silence because the silence is something that is leading us to this pandemic that we facing now,” she said.

ALSO READ: SAPS urges communities to take collective action against GBV

Eldorado Park SAPS media liaison Sergeant Fezeka Khobo said the police were supporting the organisations involved in the campaign by helping ensure their safety while they moved around the community.

She said the partnership also allowed police to receive information about incidents of GBV in the community.

“We are glad that we are having a good working relationship with the different NGOs that are part of our community because we are always working together in ensuring that the community has information,” said Khobo.

She said police officers were also able to assist when they came across issues during the door-to-door campaign.

ALSO READ: Break the chains of financial abuse during 16 Days of GBV Activism

“Sometimes we find that when you go into the yard, you get the problem that we are addressing today. Then we need to make sure that from there onwards, we tackle the issue right then,” said Khobo.

Mdletshe said a broader meeting was planned for September 19 to look at building community forums that can work with organisations to respond to issues affecting residents.

She said a mass advice day was also being planned, where different stakeholders could assist with the needs of the community.