Cape Town - Gender-based violence (GBV) cannot be oversimplified as violence against women only and there needs to be a broader understanding and interpretation of the scourge, according to Social Development MEC Sharna Fernandes.
Fernandes said: “Both women and men can be victims of violence and we need to adopt programmes that also provide services and support to male victims of violence as well as programmes aimed at young boys and perpetrators of violence.
“We are strengthening our approach to GBV with the establishment of a GBV desk in the Ministry,” said Fernandes
On the issue of whether the department had enough staff, ANC provincial spokesperson on health Rachel Windvogel asked: “With regards to social work services being readily available to assist where children are exhibiting risky behaviour or are affected by trauma, are the department’s 64 social workers enough to assist over a million learners and thousands of teachers? If not, are there plans to increase the numbers?”
Fernandes said: “We have social workers within the department, the department of education also has social workers. Similarly our stakeholder partners have social workers who engage on our behalf in certain matters.
“It is not a very simple arrangement in that there are many role-players who we need to be mindful of and whom we need to engage,” said Fernandes.
Meanwhile, department head Robert Macdonald said: “The department’s implementation of its uniform referral pathway for child protection services project improved the efficiency with which services were provided to children with challenging behaviour.
“The approval by the provincial cabinet and the subsequent implementation of the department’s child murder prevention and reduction plan paved the way for a more co-ordinated response to this scourge between key stakeholders such as the police, the criminal justice cluster and various provincial and local government departments,” said Macdonald.
“This coupled with the department’s continued participation in the child death review panels has also accelerated response times in cases where siblings of a child victim may be at risk,” said Macdonald.
Cape Argus