A R950 000 investment to #GiveAbuseTheBoot
Inspiration
September 17, 2018By First For Women
A criminal justice system that works, that seeks to hold offenders accountable and provides the support that survivors deserve – this is the vision that inspired the 1st for Women Foundation to donate R950 000 to Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust.
The Trust is faced with addressing the following shocking statistics:
49 960 sexual offences were reported in the 2016/17 period, according to Crime Statistics published by the South African Police Service, however, Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust says that as few as one in nine survivors reports crimes due to lack of faith in the criminal justice system. Taking this into consideration the number of reported sexual offences could increase exponentially to close on 450 000.
With the support of the 1st for Women Foundation, Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust is determined to significantly decrease these numbers through the establishment of more specialised sexual offences courts. These courts provide critical support for rape survivors and are proven to increase conviction rates and decrease the time taken to finalise cases. These are facts that could result in fundamental change, bringing more offenders to justice and providing hope for thousands of survivors – and a plan of action is already in place through the organisation’s Rape Survivors’ Justice Campaign.
The Rape Survivors’ Justice Campaign advocates for the planned and funded rollout of specialised sexual offences courts as well as the laws which govern and regulate them. The aim is to ensure higher conviction rates of perpetrators and to reduce the rates of secondary trauma experienced by survivors. The government has promised to roll out ten new sexual offences courts, per year, over the next three years, across South Africa – and the Rape Survivors’ Justice Campaign plans to hold them accountable for this.
While the introduction of new sexual offences courts is a tremendous step towards keeping more SA women safe, more can and must be done to bring this epidemic to an end. For over 13 years, we’ve been doing our part through the 1st for Women Foundation, to which we donate a portion of our customers’ premiums every month. Last year we expanded our efforts with the launch of ForWomen, a site which consolidates woman abuse fighting efforts and provides South Africans with the opportunity to get help or give help in the fight against woman abuse.
The more we work together, the bigger the impact we’ll make and the closer we’ll be to finally ending the scourge. Here are just some of the actions you can take:
- Make your pledge and give help or get help at www.for-women.co.za.
- Join 1st for Women and a portion of your monthly premiums will be donated to the 1st for Women Foundation. Get a quote here.
