South Africa needs to do more to protect people with disabilities from gender-based violence (GBV), Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu said on Monday.
Speaking during the re-launch of the 24-hour GBV Command Centre in the Pretoria suburb of Salvokop, Zulu noted that the government is not doing enough to protect people with disabilities from gender-based violence, adding that the state needed “to do more to step up support” for them.
“I don’t think we are doing enough yet for people with disabilities. For people with disabilities, it is double jeopardy for them,” she said.
She said people with disabilities who find themselves in abusive relationships often find it hard “to know where to go to seek help.”
“So, as the Ministry of Social Development, we would like to step up our support for people with disabilities and, in particular, women,” the minister said.
The centre provides emergency help for victims of indecent assault, physical violence, rape, child abandonment and other forms of abuse, according to the ministry.
South Africa and the rest of the world are observing the 16 Days of Activism Against Violence commemorated annually from 25 November to 10 December.
NM/jn/APA