The power of resilience preventing sexual violence in southern Johannesburg
(Southern Metropolitan Local Council in partnership with CIETafrica, Project update no.1 January 1998)
Preventing sexual violence
The Southern Metropolitan Local Council, with the support of CIET, is working with communities to find the facts behind rape and other sexual violence.There are different ways of preventing sexual violence. Some known rapists and sexually violent men might be pressured not to repeat these acts. Or extra care, policing or better lighting might prevent some cases when there are sexually violent men around. These are both important kinds of prevention.
But the really big challenge is to deal decisively with the causes of violence: primary prevention. The essence of primary prevention is that many men are not rapists: they are resilient to the pressures that make other men sexually violent. The project will build on these positive aspects; it will try to find out what makes them resilient, and it will look for ways to do more of that. It is called Sinamandla okuvimbela, Re ya mamella, The power of resilience.
The project uses a community-based planning system developed by CIET and implemented already in 41 countries worldwide. This system gets hard facts through modern scientific methods and promotes dialogue on the evidence. It guides communities through the process of identifying needs and solutions.
Repeated at regular intervals, fact-finding and action cycles gradually build community confidence and abilities to deal with their problems. In addition, the training of local community members builds local capacities to measure the progress of their own community.
The history of Sinamandla okuvimbela
In 1997 the residents of Johannesburg's South were asked by the Local Council to define a vision for their community. Out of seven areas, five identified "safety" as the biggest issue. In the remaining two, safety was mentioned second, after health and economic development.In August 1997 the SMLC gave its Health & Social Development Cluster the mandate to work with CIET to quantify the problem of sexual violence, to design solutions and to monitor progress.
The prevention of sexual violence programme was launched with an information sharing session in Soweto in November 1997. Close to 100 participants represented more than 30 non-government organisations and service providers, including the South African Police Services, the Department of Justice, Gauteng Network on Violence Against Women and various other women's groups.
Data from where for whom
There are too many households in the South for everyone to contribute information. A scientific sample has been drawn, to allow a number of households in each of the suburbs, townships and informal settlements to represent their views. Although not all households can be part of the sample, all will receive the results of the surveys, especially the solutions developed with the community consultations.Next steps
Instrument design and piloting began in mid-January 1998, with a design team made up from NGOs, academic and community organisations, local government and law enforcement organisations. Instruments are currently being field tested to make sure of their acceptability to the communities. There are several different ways data will be obtained on this problem:- all women and girls in the sample communities will be interviewed in their homes
- men will be interviewed separately
- public service workers will be asked their views
- the public services will be reviewed to identify their potential contribution to the solutions.
Funding
This phase of the project is funded by the Canadian International Development Research Centre.CIET's origins
CIET was founded in 1985 as a university-based tropical medicine and epidemiology research and teaching institute in Guerrero state, Mexico. It was started in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Repeated international requests for support led to the creation of CIETinternational, a public funded charity with headquarters in New York. CIETafrica was established in South Africa in 1997.CIET work in other countries:
- Access to justice (Mali)
- Appropriate technology (Mexico)
- Child rights (Costa Rica)
- Control of infectious disease (Mexico)
- Corruption (Tanzania)
- Eco-system health (Costa Rica, Mexico, Nepal, Uganda, USA)
- Emergencies (Somalia, Mexico)
- Empowerment of women (Nicaragua)
- Food security (Bosnia, Afghanistan)
- Gender gap in education (Pakistan)
- Health costs (Mexico, Uganda)
- Land mines (Afghanistan, Bosnia, Cambodia, Mozambique)
- Local integrity systems (Uganda)
- Nutrition (Bosnia, Mexico, Nepal)
- Programme evaluation (Burkina Faso)
- Public Sector Modernisation (Mali, Nicaragua, Uganda)
- Substance abuse (Canada)
Institutional alliances
CIET counterparts are typically government ministries, academic institutions, and local NGOs. Internationally, CIET has received support from a variety of sources including the IDRC, OXFAM, UNICEF, UNHCR, the World Bank, WFP, WHO and UNDP.
CIETafrica
Postnet X2 #164
Yeoville 2198
tel: 011 648 0434
CIETinfo@compuserve.com
CIETinternational
847a 2nd Avenue Suite387
New York, NY 10017, USA
tel: (212) 242 3428
fax: (212) 242 5453
CIETinter@compuserve.com
web: CIETinternational
CIETméxico
Apdo 2-25, Acapulco
Guerrero, Mexico
tel: 52 74 856 036 fax: 877 238
CIETmexico@compuserve.com
CIETcanada
478 Rideau Street, #3
Ottawa, Ontario K1N 5Z4
tel: (819) 827 0011
fax: (819) 827 0015
CIETinfo@compuserve.com
CIETuganda
POBox 4274 Kampala, Uganda
tel: 256 41 245907
CIETugan@imul.org
CIETeurope
POBox 8636 London SW6 2ZB, UK
tel: 44 171 736 7534
fax: 44 171 731 8922
CIETeurope@compuserve.com
CIETcentroamérica
Apdo Postal 1991 Managua, Nicaragua
tel: 505 2 657 550 fax: 224 075
ciet@nicaro.org.ni
CIETcosta rica
Apdo Postal 2369-3000
Heredia, Costa Rica
tel/fax:: 506 225 7956
lmonasta@unicef.nu.or.cr
CIETasia
POBox 18-5221 Kathmandu, Nepal
tel/fax: 9771 522 654
luwei@cietasia.wlink.com.np
CIETpakistan
tel: 9221 583 5916-8
fax: 9221 587 0850
SMLC project office: 011 857 1509
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