Page 21 - SCAT GBV Report - Addressing Gender-Based Violence - 2021

If there are clients who do not know there is an office for domestic violence, [LDAs] refer them to me ... I ask them [the LDA] to give me the real location of the perpetrator, and when I find this I give it to the police so he can be served. They help me very much.
Ntombizetu Kalimashe, DOJ stakeholder.
[LDAs] are empowering women and giving them advice in terms of referrals ... In the rural areas, they will support victims financially to take her to court ... I have learned the dedication from them. They are not getting so much money, but the dedication is there.
Nontuthuzelo Sibaca, SAPS stakeholder.
It is recognised that CAOs occupy a space characterised by complex stakeholder relationships, which have to be carefully negotiated to facilitate access to justice and legal redress for survivors/victims of GBV – including with traditional and community leaders, sub-national government, and municipalities (HSRC, 2014). It is through their relationships with key role-players that LDAs are able to enlarge their responsive capacities to GBV. Importantly, and as noted in the SCAT/CLS study, ‘the types of partnerships they’re able to establish and sustain have critical bearing on what it is possible for them to deliver for those who approach them for assistance’ (Karimakwenda et al, 2020:49). By rallying role-players for rights and recourse, these grassroots organisations provide a pivotal link between rural communities and state and private institutions, in order to strengthen service delivery, governance and democratic participation.
2.5 Facilitating support and solidarity: “Other people keeping an eye”
LDAs appear to work on the understanding that the provision of a singular service is insufficient to reduce the multi-dimensional effects of GBV on individuals, families and communities. For this reason, the paralegal assistance they offer is frequently coupled with counselling support, to equip people to cope with the effects of abuse and better endure the challenges that come with seeking justice through law and the courts. LDAs also fill a critical gap, by enabling access to services that are provided by other NGOs, private institutions and government departments. Consequently, complementarity is key, allowing the leveraging of referral systems (both formal and informal), so that a range of legal and social services can be more available to rural communities – including health care, counselling, legal representation, support groups, and direct material support (such as social grants and shelter). Whilst an LDA might focus on providing one type of service over another, there is a strong emphasis on widening the package of services available to its rural clients through its referral systems (where its internal skillset allows).
The strategy success was the service of counselling we provided, because it empowered most women and then they were bold enough to come in front and express their feelings and even fight back to their perpetrators – not fighting back with objects, but they were able to stand up for their rights. And even, if it comes to a push, to leave their husbands and start to be independent.
Phumla Gojela, CARE.
Sometimes survivors have to face alienation or retaliation from other community members, particularly if they lay formal charges against their attacker. For these and other reasons, securing places of safety is critical. Here, LDAs are involved, in efforts to make available shelters and/or safe houses – the former being largely out of reach for those residing in rural areas.
“Finish this Elephant”: Rural Community Organisations’ Strategic Approaches to Addressing GBV 21