With Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) officially classified as a national disaster, the National Shelter Movement of South Africa (NSMSA) is calling for urgent awareness and support as the country enters the festive season.
The movement says the holiday season is usually associated with increased risk to women, with an increase in Gender Based Violence cases.
NSMSA’s toll-free, 24-hour National GBV Shelter Helpline is dedicated to the placement of survivors into safe houses and shelters.
The movement’s helpline agent Lucia Mogale says, “The reason that it goes high, most people are at home or maybe in other cases it means that now they have time not to do certain things which might be not going to school or not going to work. So, most individuals are around home to rest. Another reason is that everyone now is focused on different things, focusing on spending time with family, which for other people might not be the same situation.”
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