One stop centres prove crucial in fight against GBV

ONE stop centres have proven crucial in the fight against gender-based violence but the facilities have remained out of reach for many as communities have to walk long distances to reach these services.

The centres are meant to ensure access to quality and comprehensive services for survivors of sexual gender-based violence. They offer health services, legal advisory services, protection provider services through the police victim friendly unit and counselling services. Other complementary services come from the Department of Social Welfare and Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and other relevant stakeholders who attend to clients at the centres on call.

The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprise Development recently engaged on a fact-finding mission to establish how many one stop centres exist across the country and how many more are needed.

According to the Zimbabwe demographic and Health Survey (2015), overall gender-based violence prevalence rate is at 35 percent with 14 percent of women aged 15 to 49 years reported having experienced sexual violence while 25 percent reported to have experienced physical abuse since the age of 15 years. Also, 45 percent of married women have experienced sexual, emotional and physical abuse by their partners.

The then Ministry of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development having realised the importance of timely, efficient victim friendly services introduced one stop centres in September 2016 to serve as a holistic service centre where multiple services to cater for the needs of the gender-based violence survivors can be attained under one roof.

The centres were introduced with the aim to increase access to holistic and lifesaving multisectoral response needs for adult and child survivors of sexual and gender-based violence that is gender sensitive, survivor centred health, legal and social services.

Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Matabeleland South provincial development co-ordinator Ms Majorie Skundla said while it was important to establish more one stop centres there was also a need for safe shelters to support the facilities. She said after experiencing the trauma of being abused it was not ideal for survivors to continue living in the same environment as the perpetrators especially in cases when they were related.

“One stop centres alone are not enough. Some of the perpetrators of these cases are people that are related to the survivors and live with them. Some of these perpetrators can be granted bail pending trial and it wouldn’t be ideal for the survivor to go back and live in that toxic environment.

“There’s need for safe shelters where the survivors can be housed while they heal. After a survivor has been offered services at the one stop centre, they can be housed within these safe shelters if the environment back home isn’t conducive. Some can even be housed there for a certain number of days while they recover,” she said.

Speaking during a visit to the Gwanda one stop centre recently, the chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprise Development, Cde Chido Madiwa who is also the Member of Parliament for Mutasa North Constituency said there was need for Government to allocate funds towards establishment of one stop centres which were currently dotted around the country.

She said each facility was supposed to be well resourced and equipped in order to effectively serve its purpose.

Cde Madiwa said it would remain difficult to realise development in the nation if gender-based violence was not addressed.

“We have one stop centres that have been established across the country. These are institutions where survivors of gender-based violence can access services in one place. We have seen the one stop centre in Gwanda though its very small and as parliament we will be pressing to ensure that we have well established one stop centres across the country as they are very helpful.

“We need more resources to be channelled towards establishment of one stop centres. We will lobby for allocation of funds yearly under the fiscus towards once stop centres. One stop centres are important as they bring several services under one roof which include psycho social support, health services and legal services for sexual genderbased violence survivors. As parliament we want to establish how many one stop centres are there across the nation and see what can be done to ensure that they are accessible,” she said.

Presenting a report on the facility, Gwanda Provincial Hospital one stop centre administrator, Ms Amanda Ndebele said the facility was established in 2016. She said the centre offered legal, support and psychosocial support.

Ms Ndebele said most of their clients were from the rural areas. She said they had a challenge in accommodating clients coming from afar who could not make it back to their homes on the same day. She said this year they had recorded a drop in the number of clients who came for services due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Some of the challenges we face include the lack of a safe shelter which undermines the effective service provision and compromises the safety of clients. Late reporting of cases is also a challenge as some cases come to light when the survivor is pregnant, withdrawal of cases in cases where the perpetrator is a breadwinner,” she said.

Ms Ndebele said the facility was established to increase access to referral mechanisms for communities and survivors of gender-based violence as well as increase access to basic health and legal support to children and adult survivors of gender-based violence.

She said the facility also seeks to increase access to psychosocial support to children and adult survivors of gender-based violence and to increase skills among child and adult survivors of genderbased violence to minimise the risk and exposure to secondary trauma and violence.

Ms Khumalo said the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprise Development was responsible for the overall coordination of the initiative while other key implementers and service providers include the Ministry of Health and Child Care that are responsible for health aspects of the initiative, the Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association (ZWLA) responsible for legal aid and community legal education, Zimbabwe Republic Police-Victim Friendly Unit, Judicial Services Commission, Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and the Department of Child Welfare and Protection responsible for psycho-social support related interventions.

“Services offered at the one stop centre include medical services, HIV prevention services, provision of emergency contraception, counselling, legal aid, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) prevention and treatment, police Victim Friendly Unit (VFU) services. All the above major services are readily available on ground while other complimentary service providers for example social welfare, education and every other relevant stakeholders attend to clients at the centre on call. The health aspect of any gender-based violence survivor especially rape is highly prioritised therefore health services can be accessed at the centre throughout the week at any time of the day including after office hours and public holidays,” she said.

Ms Khumalo added: “The initiative of one stop centres has brought a number of positive changes. It has helped strengthen the referral system both at community and service provider level, minimised risk of secondary trauma because of a strengthened referral system and comprehensiveness of the service provision. It has also increased the rate at which sexual assault cases are being completed at the courts due to nurses now filing the medical affidavit, going to testify and giving expert evidence in a court of law and a functional system.

“It has also ensured sexual and reproductive health for survivors of sexual abuse through treatment services that include emergency contraception and post exposure prophylaxis. It has also helped to reduce teenage pregnancies and unlawful abortions which tend to be dangerous,” she said. — @DubeMatutu