New care room at Kabokweni safe place for abused women and children

The Greater Rape Intervention Project (GRIP) opened a new care room for women affected by gender-based violence and sexual abuse at the Kabokweni Police Station at the end of last month.

FEATURE IMAGE: At the care room at the Kabokweni police station are from left Surrender Malale (social worker), Lynn Cuthill (programme administrator), Ruth Sibiya (first responder), Fareeda Mashaba (coordinator), Tarryn Lokotsch (CEO) and Twins Mkonto (first responder).

The care room is there to assist abused women and children in a victim-friendly environment and help is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Two first responders, Ruth Sibiya and Twins Mkonto, are on duty at the care room every day during office hours and when there are victims in need of their services after hours, police officers fetch them at their homes to assist.

ALSO READ: Help GRIP help survivors of gender violence

“We are very grateful to the Kabokweni police for their assistance in this regard,” says Tarryn Lokotsch, CEO of GRIP.

Although the care room has only been open for a few days, the word has spread fast.

According to Surrender Malale, the social worker working at the care room, they assist five women per day on average.

“We offer a comprehensive service for survivors of violence or rape. When a woman has been raped, we take her to Themba Hospital where she will receive the necessary medical attention and forensic examination. When she is ready, we offer counselling services. If she prefers to lay a charge and has to go to court to testify, we support her and help her prepare for court. We also offer care packages to those who need them,” she says.

ALSO READ: White River business supports Grip in fight against gender-based violence

GRIP also offers other services in the community such as educational and awareness campaigns.

“We do door-to-door campaigns and visit schools, clinics and SASSA offices to create awareness around issues of gender-based and sexual violence. Often when we do door-to-door campaigns we find women who are subjected to such violence, but do not have the means to reach out to us. We are then able to help them,” she says. “At schools we are fortunate when we can help young girls in time before they drop out of school. We support them and offer counselling where necessary.”

She says they always encourage survivors to lay charges with the police, but many prefer not to go that route.

Often when we do door-to-door campaigns we find women who are subjected to such violence, but do not have the means to reach out to us.
Surrender Malale

Tarryn says there are many reasons why women choose not to lay charges.

“When the perpetrator is known to the victim, she is often dependent on him for food and a place to stay. She has to go back to him, because she has no other options. The court process can also be intimidating and many survivors do not want to testify about what had happened to them,” she says.

She says one of the biggest stumbling blocks for the prosecution of rapists in South Africa is that there is only one forensic laboratory, situated in Pretoria.

“We wait for an average of three years for forensic evidence to be processed. There are literally thousands of cases in the system and court cases cannot be concluded without forensic evidence,” she says.

Most of our funding comes from the private sector and overseas institutions and is aimed at specific programmes. We would be able to do so much more if we had more money.
Tarryn Lokotsch

GRIP currently has 84 employees and they are present at a number of police stations, hospitals, and courts in Mpumalanga from where they assist victims. They also have two shelters for abused women and children.

“Most of our funding comes from the private sector and overseas institutions and is aimed at specific programmes. We would be able to do so much more if we had more money,” Tarryn says.

At the moment she has a dream to establish a care room at the Calcutta police station.

“The area is a hotspot for sexual crimes and I know we can make a difference there. To be able to do that we would need about R50 000 per month for salaries, operating costs, refreshments for victims, and formula and nappies for when mothers bring their babies with them,” she says.

For more information on GRIP and its projects, the organisation can be contacted on 083 310 1321.