The Khusela Project provides Rapid Response services to women and victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and rape, abused children, abused older persons and/or people with disabilities. The project was initiated to create and support an enabling environment within targeted wards and communities, where local authorities and civil society work with and support communities in which the rights and needs of victims of crime and violence are acknowledged, and effectively addressed within a restorative justice framework.

In the period 1 April to 30 June 2021, SPF have supported the following beneficiaries:

Gender Based Violence Emergency: The GBV Social Workers attended to 563 Emergency callouts. And attended to 591 participants calls in this period to assist only GBV cases.

The Call Centres have assisted 9,357 beneficiaries through direct call ins and responded to 6,822 referral beneficiaries from USSD campaigns, local referrals and social media requests for help.

PROJECT ACTIVITIES:

·         Set up and operating a Toll-free Call centre staffed by 4 professional Social workers that provide telephonic support to targeted beneficiaries Twenty-Four Hours a Day.

·         Emergency intervention teams (2 vehicles and 2 social workers) available for emergency outreach.

·         USSD (SMS)GBV campaigns messaging to 26 000 young women and girls.

·         Visits and education of clinics, police, government social workers on prevention/referral.

·         Coordination and management of referral system for linkage to support services between police, clinics, schools, government social workers and local CBOs/ NGOs/FBOs               through Abused women and OVC Safety Net forums based at local clinics.

·         Provision of a structured package of services through the rapid response team that will follow up on cases and link beneficiaries to Thuthuzela Centres.

·         Rights based education (on GBV) of young girls, women and children in schools, women groups and communities.

·         Provide capacity building support to Victim Empowerment Champions who follow up on beneficiaries reached through the call centre, for onsite and referral services.

·         Follow up on responses telephonically through call centre.

·         Training of “Safe persons” per village/area to provide emergency shelter overnight to survivors.

·         Establish and operating of safe spaces in the villages.

·         Monitoring and Reporting.

·         Documentation of best practice.

PROBLEM DESCRIPTION:

The incidence and prevalence of GBV and abuse of women and children has been very high in the Eastern Cape and South Africa for a number of years (over 111,000 cases estimated per year, 1 /9 is only reported). The onset of COVID-19 and lockdown saw a reported 300% increase in calls to helplines, police and other service providers.