Reeva’s mom takes stand against abuse
IN an attempt to prevent more women and children from being abused and killed by their loved ones, the Reeva Rebecca Steenkamp Foundation is appealing to more people to support the organisation.
On Valentine’s Day in 2013, Reeva was murdered by her boyfriend, Paralympian Oscar Pistorius, in his home.
The foundation was started in 2015 by Reeva’s mother, June Steenkamp, to continue Reeva’s work of raising awareness of abuse of women and children.
At a breakfast organised by the foundation yesterday, Steenkamp said she would never get over her daughter’s death.
“Something like this stays with you until the day you die. We miss her every day. She was such a big part of our lives and the way she died was so tragic and horrible that you can’t get that out of your mind.
“I think this event is just a celebration of what she wanted us to do against the abuse of women and children.”
She said with it being Mother’s Day, the family missed her even more.
“Her life was taken away. She will never have children. She will never have her wedding. How can you get over something like that? So much was taken away from her – violently. We need to have a bigger stand against this type of violence.
She said the aim of the foundation was to try protect women and children from abuse.
“We are just going to do our best to protect women so that this won’t happen. Losing your child is a horrible thing that you never get over. We are working towards trying to save abused women,” said Steenkamp.
Reeva’s cousin, Kim Martin, the chief executive of the foundation, said the foundation wanted to be “Reeva’s voice and legacy”.
“We aim to do this through education and empowerment.”
She said they have domestic violence packs – or Reeva packs, as they are known – that they hand out at schools, hospitals, police stations and shelters.
“It provides abused women with all the necessary tools and helps them get out of abusive relationships. It empowers them to make that decision to leave. We also have a bursary that we grant every year to a fourth or final year law student who is focusing on family law.”
They also offer legal advice and representation and have the pilot project currently running in Port Elizabeth. They are hoping to bring this to Cape Town as well.
The foundation’s long-term goal is to open a safe house.
For more information, visit www.reevasteenkampfoundation.org