Cape Town - As Women’s Month draws to a close, Western Cape MEC for Social Development Sharna Fernandez has launched two new safe houses along the Garden Route, Protea House for Women and Peonies House for Women.
In a statement released on Sunday, Fernandez said the safe houses were the fifth and sixth safe houses opened within the space of a year by the Department of Social Development (DSD) and its non-profit organisation (NPO) partners for victims of gender-based violence in the province.
She said the opening of the safe houses came after the initial announcement by the national minister of Public Works, Patricia de Lille, on March 4 last year that six national government-owned properties in the province would be made available as safe havens for women and children.
Fernandez said that at the beginning of the year, her department was funding 19 shelters for victims of gender-based violence in the province. Her department now funds 25 safe spaces.
She said the need for safe houses came as violence against women and children was rising sharply, as indicated by the crime statistics released last week by the South African Police Service (SAPS).
Fernandez said everyone needed to commit to playing a role in eliminating social injustices that women experience daily at the hands of men.
The crime statistics revealed that 1 724 cases of sexual violence were reported in the Western Cape between April and June, compared with 990 cases during the same period last year.
The DSD has partnered with the MOSAIC Training Service and Healing Centre to combat abuse and gender-based violence.
“MOSAIC will lead the charge in rendering emergency shelter accommodation to victims of crime and violence and their children in the Garden Route and surrounding regions,” Fernandez said.
To be admitted to the safe houses on the Garden Route, victims need to meet any of the following criteria: be experiencing physical and life-threatening circumstances, be victims of intimate partner violence, be victims of domestic violence, or be victims of sexual and physical assault. All denominations, races and cultures are welcome.
"Every woman or child violated is one too many. By working together, we can have #Onevoice united against gender-based violence, 365 days of the year,” Fernandez added.
African News Agency (ANA)