Issued by: Department of Justice and Constitutional Development
27 November 2001
Violence against woman and children is one of the priorities of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. The Department, after being informed of the money crisis that has befell the help line, decided to assist. This decision was made in view of the amount of work done by the helpline.
The Department together with National Treasury was able to rescue the help line by giving the R1m. This money is a once off payment which is non refundable the Department has contributed to the helpline in 1999 when it was created.
Stop Women Abuse Helpline is a project of Lifeline Southern Africa and is situated in Braamfontein, Johannesburg. The Stop Women Abuse helpline offers anonymous, confidential counselling 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in all eleven official languages throughout the year. In addition to this are centres in the provinces reaching out to the most rural areas.
The Helpline receives an average call rate of 4000 call per day from abused women, children and men, which translate to about 120 000 calls every month.
The Stop Women Abuse Helpline is in partnership with the Department of Justice, Social Welfare and Development, National Network on Violence Against Women and Soul City. The Helpline provides accurate statistics to the Department of Justice for Justice for the likelihood of conviction and for planning purposes.
The crisis emerged because of the increasing demand on the line, which affected the available budget. Another Government Department failed to honour the 2nd payment of their three (3) year contract. The line received the first phase of the funds and expected the second phase, which is still outstanding. This placed the Helpline in sudden serious jeopardy where it was about to close down.
The Department of Justice as committed partners came to the rescue. The Deputy Minister Ms Cheryl Gillwald made an absolute super human effort to save the jobs of dedicated counsellors as well as the continuity of the vital service to over 100 000 thousand of women, children and men in the community calling per month. This is an indication that the Deputy Minister is committed to combat violence against women. This came at the time of observing the 16 Days of Activism on No Violence Against Women.
Ms Mbangi Dzivhani of lifeline had this to say: "Lifeline Southern Africa and its project, The Stop Women Abuse Helpline, would like to thank the Department of Justice and assure the Department of our commitment to a mutually beneficial partnership between the Department, Lifeline, and thousands of abused women in South Africa."
The Department of Justice and constitutional Development, as the lead Department on the 16 Days of activism on no violence against woman project, is very pleased to be able to assist the helpline during this period where violence against woman and children is escalating.
Chief Directorate Communication Services:
Department of Justice and Constitutional Development
Enquiries:
Kaizer Kganyago
Tel: (012) 315-1807
Fax: (012) 323-3595
Cell: 082-466-3053
Email: kkganyago@justice.gov.za