Addressing the scourge

Two of the worst of crimes today are gender-based violence and human trafficking.

The victims, especially of domestic abuse, come to us broken and dehumanised. Their fight back to having a normal life is a long and massive struggle.

Bonisiwe Mbatha is the social worker in our Gender Justice Office, and she reports that abuse has no age limit.  Bonisiwe sees young school leavers unable to find work being abused by family members both physically and emotionally, because they’re not providing for the family.  Then there are women with young children who are beaten into believing that they deserve the abuse.  The aged also don’t escape.

In our support groups we try to rebuild confidence.  Those who want to become self-sufficient are offered a chance to join one of our four skills training programmes (hospitality, beauty, fashion and detergent making).

So far 44 participants have been trained. With life-changing skills, self-worth is restored, and hope for a brighter future is inspired. The scourge of abuse and human-trafficking is something we all have to fight against.  Thank you for walking this road with us.