The Western Cape Provincial Parliament’s Standing Committee on Social Development was briefed by the Department of Social Development yesterday on the Department’s plans to combat sexual harassment within its own operations, as well as to combat Gender-Based Violence (GBV) across the province.
The Department highlighted the following interventions regarding sexual harassment and GBV:
- The Department will train and appoint Sexual Harassment Officers (SHOs), who are volunteer appointees responsible for being the first point of contact should an incident of sexual harassment take place within the department.
- The Department’s internal policy will offer complainants the choice of a formal or informal process to deal with their complaints, and takes into account the power dynamics which so often hamper justice in these cases.
- The Department also provided an update on the implementation of its province-wide GBV reduction methods, which include measures to provide psychosocial care for survivors at GBV shelters and Thuthuzela Centres.
DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Social Development, Dan Plato said: “GBV and sexual harassment are traumatising, egregious, and highly nuanced issues that affect many within our province and our country. The policies which the Department has put into place to eradicate sexual harassment within its own ranks strike the delicate balance between holding perpetrators accountable, and protecting the rights of complainants to anonymity and to their choice of method for resolving complaints. At the same time, the Department’s six-pillar approach to tackling GBV broadly in the Western Cape, takes a comprehensive approach to decreasing the scourge and addressing the needs of victims.
I will continue to ensure that engagements on these important issues take place between the Department and the Standing Committee of Social Development and that these sessions are used to provide the greatest benefit in combatting GBV and sexual harassment. It is imperative that the rights of sexual assault and GBV victims and complainants remain paramount, and not be compromised for political ends.”
