Hosting awareness campaigns in GBVF
Why this is important...
When setting a team goal for an End GBVF 100-Day Challenge, teams are always encouraged to set an unreasonable goal that will shock them out of the normal way of working. Not only this, but the goal needs to be impact driven and measurable.
For teams that set goals to increase the reporting of GBVF cases, and to have more survivors access support services, large scale awareness campaigns play a massive role. Let’s take a closer look at this:
Bringing a new focus with Steve Tshwete Municipality
The Steve Tshwete Municipality team set their sights on reducing the number of GBVF cases reported in the municipality. To achieve this, their approach included capacity building, individual counseling, service referrals, registration of women for learning opportunities, awareness campaigns, and community dialogues.
But as they implemented these activities, an unexpected trend emerged: reported cases of GBVF were rising instead of decreasing. Rather than viewing this increase as a setback, the team took a step back to analyze the data. What they discovered was eye-opening:
- Many community members lacked knowledge about how to report cases or access available support.
- Even those who knew how to report often distrusted the system’s ability to handle their cases effectively.
The community outreach revealed that many people did not know what GBVF reporting and support systems were in place, and now through their work, they were bringing a lot more attention to these resources.
This insight led to a significant pivot. The team shifted from solely aiming to reduce reported cases to addressing the root causes of GBVF within the community.
Polokwane justice cluster partnered with local NGOs, SAPS and the NPA to host community awareness campaigns
Courts within the Polokwane cluster in Limpopo set a goal to increase the reporting of GBVF cases by 80% in both rural and urban areas. By the end of their 100-Day Challenge they managed to increase the reporting of cases by 37%. Although they did not reach their target, they managed to get a result that they did not expect.
They managed to reduce the withdrawal rate of cases by 70%.
When speaking to the Chief Prosecutor and Ambassador for the End GBVF 100-Day Challenge in Polokwane, Octavia Ngwenya attributes this to the visibility of officials and NGOs working together in the community. “When communities saw court officials, the magistrate, the NPA, NGOs and social workers, all working together, they started trusting the justice system more to handle their cases with efficiency”.
Impact of awareness campaigns with youth
Many of the municipality and TVET teams embarked on 100-Day Challenges that involved youth. Ga-Segonyana Municipality addressed learners on bullying, Tshwane South TVET College hosted awareness sessions on substance abuse and how this perpetuates forms of GBV within a college setting, and Govan Mbeki facilitated dialogue circles focused on the pressing issues of teenage pregnancy and alcohol misuse/abuse.
At Tshwane South TVET College, encouragingly, six students from the two campuses have come forward to seek assistance for past experiences with GBV, particularly incidents of rape.
What the outcomes of all of these awareness campaigns display circles back to the importance of building trust. Many of the teams have suggested that it is not an issue of resourcing; in most localities, there are enough resources to respond to instances of GBVF, the issue has rather been a lack of trust within communities to use these systems for support.
Hosting large scale awareness campaigns changes this. Increasing the visibility of stakeholders working together, builds trust. When cases get reported, and victims get the support their need, more people feel encouraged to speak out and report their cases.