After Easter there was an uptick in domestic violence cases in the country. Shelters have lost income and social workers are having to field as many as 1000 calls a day from women who are now stuck at home with their abusive partners.
It’s day 25 of South Africa’s national lockdown, put in place by the country’s government to curb the spread of the coronavirus, which has killed more than 160000 people worldwide.
Pheladi Mamaila is a social worker there. “As soon as you put the phone down another call comes through,” she says. Data-free messages to the centre’s phone number increased more than tenfold and SMSes streamed in at double the usual daily rate too. Mamaila and the other supervisors have requested that the department of social development hire 16 more social workers to help field the deluge of calls that are steadily increasing as the lockdown stretches on.Just before the end of Mamaila’s shift, there are still 524 calls waiting to be answered. Even abandoned calls are followed up to make sure the person on the other end is okay.It’s 06.15am on a Sunday morning when Lee-Ann Jephtas walks out of her bedroom for the last time.
That way, she thinks, her husband will think it’s just another Sunday morning. Besides, he doesn’t get up until she’s brought him coffee in bed — or else. As a result, the department of social development has already started approaching empty hotels and guest houses to help house women and children in need, says Mmabatho Ramagoshi, the secretary general of the International Alliance of Women. She was speaking at a webinar on gender-based violence during lockdown hosted by the department of women, youth and persons with disabilities.Abuse of women and children is likely to get worse as the pandemic stretches on, Amber Peterman warns.
Women in villages in which men did not receive the migration loans were 31% more likely to experience sexual and physical violence. But, the social security systems that are already in place in South Africa might help, Peterman argues. She explains: “An important lesson from the research is to have some form of support for people who are heavily hit by abuse both financially and with counselling.”
The coronavirus pandemic is not only pushing up the need for safe havens around the country, it’s also increasing the cost of taking care of people once they’re there, says Bernadine Bachar, the director of the Saartjie Baartman Centre for Women and Children in the Western Cape.
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