Unite and report violence. If you get no joy, phone me – Public Protector

Awareness and access. These are two crucial weapons needed in the battle against violence against women and children.

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has called on the community of Khayelitsha to “unite against gender violence and encourage victims to report the police”.

The Public Protector’s office visited the Cape Town township today to commemorate the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children campaign.

The aim was to raise awareness surrounding the plight of women and children who are victims of abuse and bringing the services of the Public Protector’s office closer to the community.

Mkhwebane said that should victims of abuse encounter difficulties in reporting matters to the police or any other authorities, people were urged to contact one of the 19 Public Protector service offices, two of which are located in Cape Town and George.

Khayelitsha was ranked number three for sexual offences from 10 precincts in the Western Cape for 2016, with 223 reported crimes.

“As at the end of October, cases at hand in this province were 1260. Out of these, a mere 33 were from this township and they had to do with police conduct, housing pensions, compensation fund and home affairs, among other things. We are not getting a lot of complaints from this area. Surely, this can’t be because there is not a lot of issues to complain about. It is most likely the issue of awareness and access, which is why we have decided to bring our services to you,” Mkhwebane said.

Mkhwebane called on the community to “unite against gender violence and encourage victims to report the police”.

“In the event you are of the view that the authorities are failing you as a victim, take the matter up with the oversight agencies. Should you still not get joy, my office will be waiting to hear from you,” she said.

	Avantika Seeth Multimedia journalist City Press p: +27 11 713 9001 w: www.citypress.co.za  e: avantika.seeth@citypress.co.za
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