I recently came across an advertisement in a magazine that is meant to raise awareness for woman and child abuse and the heading read “Break the Silence”. It listed a few statistics, helplines and how you can help by donating and following the initiative on social media. Since reading this I felt the need to write my next post about exactly this to help raise awareness. My post today is not meant to focus on all the vulgar details of what some woman and children go through, but to focus on what we can do to help. Even in a small way.
Today we hear more and more about woman and children being either abused, raped or killed. With the human trafficking criminal industry growing here in South Africa (as well as child prostitution), more woman and children are falling victim to this.
This can affect many of us in one way or another. Perhaps you were raised in an abusive home or you are in an abusive relationship right now, whether it is physical or verbal. Perhaps you or someone close to you have been a victim of rape. You may even have lost someone due to some form of cruel violence taking their life.
Most of the time we are not even aware that a friend or family member is being abused. Or by the time we find out, it is too late. A friend of yours or perhaps a small child you know may be in an abusive situation right now and they might feel too scared or trapped to talk about it.
So, what can we do to help?
We can all get involved in many ways and even though there are different options, I want to focus specifically on the initiative I read about called “1000 Woman Trust”. You can read more about them on their website.
They include various ways for anyone to make donations towards the cause. It varies from electronic transfers or debit orders to even donating via SMS. With SMS, you donate as little as R7.50 (ZAR).
According to their site, donations will go towards:
- Safe Houses for woman and girls
- Information on where they can find support
- Awareness Raising Campaigns
- Small Grants to Woman organizations
Donating may cost a bit of money and take some of your time, but if you consider how many woman and children would benefit from your support then it will be well worth the effort. Perhaps you think your small donation will not make a difference. Well if everyone were to donate a little, we would soon make a big impact.
If you are still not sure, think about this: As per the information provided on their site, one out of four women is in an abusive relationship. Every 6 days a woman is murdered by her partner. Every 25 seconds a woman or girl is raped. These are only referring to South Africa alone!
What if you are unable to make any donations, but want to help?
I can think of at least 2 ways that you can help:
- You can help raise awareness for this cause. There are many ways to get the word out there today.
- Another way to help would be by praying. Whether you can donate or not, you can always pray for any situation at any time. You can join me in donating to this cause or you can join me in prayer. Let us pray for the women who feel trapped in an abusive relationship. Let us pray for the girls who are too scared to go to bed at night. Let us pray for the women who have fallen victim to human trafficking and see no hope of getting back safely. Let us also pray for the people who are allowing this evil to take place, who are actively taking part in these crimes. Let us pray that change will happen. The world is in desperate need of change.
While reading this, you might be able to relate. Or perhaps you have been lucky enough not to experience any abuse or know anyone who has, but that does not mean that it does not happen all around us in the world every day.
We may even think that this will never happen to us, but it can. It can happen to you, your sister, your mother, your niece, your girlfriend, your wife… Please consider donating and following the initiative #1000Woman1Voice on social media and keep on praying.
I may write more posts on “Causes that Matter”. If there is a cause close to your heart, please comment below to raise awareness. This post is mainly focused on abuse of women and children, but we need to realize that it is bigger than that and that anyone can be a victim of abuse. We need to stand up, speak up and BREAK THE SILENCE.
