VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Issued by: Government Communications (GCIS)

MEDIA RELEASE BY JUSTICE COLLEGE: LAUNCH OF THE TRAINING PROGRAMME ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

The Department of Justice will launch a special training programme for criminal justice personnel on Violence against Women on 24 November 1998. The training programme is funded by the Danish Government and is a collaborative project between the Department of Justice, the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR), Nisaa Institute for Women's Development, the National Institute for Public Interest Law and Research (NIPILAR) and Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre (TLAC).

Violence against women has reached endemic proportions in South Africa. The Department of Justice estimates that one out of every four South African women are survivors of domestic violence. According to statistics provided by NICRO, approximately 31 000 interdicts were issued in the Western Cape in terms of the Prevention for Family Violence Act for the period December 1993 to November 1997, of which roughly 98% were to women and 2% were to men. Between 1993 and 1996, the number of rapes reported doubled to 50,481.

With these high statistics, violence against women needs to be seen as a community problem that needs to be addressed at all levels of society. It is also a fact that the criminal justice system plays a crucial role in tackling violence against women. It is for this reason that the Deputy Minister of Justice, Dr ME Tshabalala-Msimang, will launch this special training programme for criminal justice personnel on dealing with violence against women. This is at present a pilot project based in Gauteng.

This specialised training programme will deal with the social and legal aspects of two forms of violence against women, namely women abuse and sexual assault. The aims of the training programme are as follows:

• to create a greater understanding of violence against women amongst criminal justice personnel;
• to empower criminal justice personnel at all levels to work with victims in a supportive manner;
• to promote inter-sectoral co-operation between prosecutors, police, district surgeons, clerks and NGO's in the area of violence against women;
• to improve the justice system by making it more accessible to women through effective, supportive and compassionate criminal justice personnel;
• to integrate training on violence against women into the standard Justice College training programme.

The training will be dealt with in three (3) phases. The first phase will commence on 25 November 1998, and run during the 16 days of activism to end violence against women. This phase will target prosecutors, clerks and interpreters. Phase two (2) and phase three (3) will commence during 1998. Phase 2 is aimed at obtaining greater inter-sectoral co-operation between all the role players in the criminal justice system, while phase 3 will target the criminal justice personnel in rural areas.

The Department regards this as a major step towards bringing justice to the people in a compassionate and people friendly way. The official launch will take place on 24 November 1998, at 13:00, in the Conference room of the South African Law Commission, Sanlam Centre, Pretoria. Members of the media are welcome to attend the launch, which will be hosted by the Deputy Minister of Justice, Dr ME Tshabalala-Msimang.

ISSUED BY THE DIRECTORATE: COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ON BEHALF OF JUSTICE COLLEGE PRETORIA

ENQUIRIES: Adv Karen McKenzie Tel: (012) 334-7700 Fax: (012) 326-4288