We have over 85 teams that are participating in the End GBVF 100- Day Challenges in 2023
This wave of End GBVF 100-Day Challenges started on Women’s Day and is set to run until the 16 Days of Activism against GBV, giving all teams an opportunity to dive deeper into ending GBVF over this commemorative period. The End GBVF 100-Day Challenges are also planned for 2024, ensuring that the movement towards addressing GBVF is not only sustained, but also continues to grow, as this is such a crucial social issue to address. Through implementing virtual technology, Lenyene Magistrates Court in Greater Tzaneen was able to fully mediate and settle a maintenance dispute in less than an hour. “Adopting technology prevents tiresome court postponements and allows for a much more efficient system overall. We will see more courts utilising virtual systems to speed up their processes,” says Jakkie Wessels, Regional Court President in Limpopo. Previous pilot projects completed between 2020 and 2022 saw some remarkable results. In 11 courts, the backlog of domestic violence protection orders was reduced by 98% in 100 days.
Further to sexual offences, divorce, and maintenance cases, domestic violence is also receiving a lot of attention with participating courts aiming to reduce the turnaround times to finalise cases. The Nkowankowa Magistrate Court in Greater Tzaneen set a goal to reduce turnaround time to finalise domestic violence cases from eight to four weeks and reduce the backlog by 80%. Senwabarwana Magistrate Court in Capricorn aims to reduce turnaround time from six weeks to 14 days in domestic violence cases, and completely reduce the backlog by 100%. “Reducing the backlog and turnaround times for GBV-related cases ensures timely justice for those who have experienced unimaginable trauma,” says Wessels. “A swift response to GBVF by our justice system will build public confidence in our courts and also encourage more GBVF survivors to come forward and report their cases, knowing that they will be served.”
Follow these developments on the End GBVF 100-Day Challenges on social media:
Twitter: gbvf100days
Facebook: endgbvf100days
Instagram: endgbvf_100daychallenges
November 2023 | Collective Action Magazine
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