The web-based service includes a free legal helpline managed by a women-only team at LawForAll along with links to the police; helplines and counselling services; as well as a list of shelters. Its associated social media sites also provide for sharing of stories to educate and inspire those in abusive relationships who feel alone and incapable of making a change.
This comes on the back of a spate of recent convictions of South African men for having murdered their wives.
Globally, 39% of homicides of women are committed by an intimate partner. In SA that figure is 57%. “We have become the femicide capital of the world,” concluded Judge Gayaat Salie-Hlophe in the recent court judgment of S v Nobade (CC16/2018) [2019] ZAWCHC 76 (19 June 2019) at para 21.
“The statistics are frightening,” says Yvonne Wakefield, founder of The Warrior Project. “The problem of domestic abuse and gender-based violence in South Africa has reached massive proportions. It is now a crisis, and I could no longer look the other way.”
Female business leaders Nagtegaal and Pandor stepped up to collaborate, bringing their resources and commitment to the table. “It’s amazing how powerful ideological alignment between women on these issues can be,” says Wakefield.
The Warrior Project was initially released to SweepSouth’s network and is now freely available to the public.
For more information, visit www.thewarriorproject.org.za.
