Limpopo Police Commissioner Thembi Hadebe announced that more survivors of gender-based violence (GBV) are beginning to report their cases to the police. She made this statement during the provincial launch of the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children campaign held in Moletjie, just outside Polokwane.
The campaign aims to raise awareness of gender-based violence and promote efforts to prevent it. Hadebe says there are strong indications that more people are reporting cases.
She says, “The more you do your awareness, the more people come forward and trust the systems. They come and report, and as they report, you record many cases compared to whatever. And what does the community says? It says, ah, the rape is very high in Limpopo and whatever, instead of appreciating the work that we are doing, of enabling the victims to come forward and report these cases, we have cases that have happened, 2, 3, 5 years ago, that are reported at this point. What does that tell us? It tells us that our systems are working. The community has got trust. Women tend to trust the police more to come and report this.”
