Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, IPM has shifted to a model called 2train10 that will train women to protect themselves from gender based violence due to the confines of the lock-down and economic uncertainty in South Africa.
The Covid-19 lockdown has seen an exponential increase in intimate partner violence, which started the first day of lockdown where partners are trapped together with no work. Unemployment is almost 10% above the national average, and people living in poverty were estimated at 51% before Covid-19 lockdown. In the Nelson Mandela Bay inner city area where the project operates, the population is close to double that of the province. Families are hardest hit in overcrowded township houses. The anti-sexual violence TEARS Foundation say they have received 30% more text messages and calls over the past month. Victims who are able to break free are unable to travel far to shelters because they do not have money, no cars, and are prohibited by lockdown restrictions.
2 Train 10
School doors are locked to us, probably until 2021.
So we are doing GBV (gender based violence) awareness with a difference.
It is called 2Train10: Each person who learns about keeping safe is asked to volunteer to go into their street, friends, family and clubs to train another 10. Like a relay, where the baton is passed from one group to another, down many lines. The aim is to teach Covid-19 safety and safety from domestic violence and intimate partner violence.
We teach it to people who do not have access to the internet, who do not have data for online learning. So it is done person to person, face to face, in backyards, in front rooms – while keeping social distancing and without power-points or big overhead projections. We share from bits of paper and active demonstration.
Covid-19 is giving us a chance to extend our reach. We aim to reach 1000’s of abused families BEFORE abuse happens.
We are doing a movie and will let you know of progress. Watch for it.
Monica Bennet
Chair of I Protect Me
FYI – Monica was 1 of 30 winners chosen from a field of 1,200 applicants to become Fellows of the 20/20 Gratitude Network. These outstanding project leaders are all highly successful change makers for children.
