On the 28th of January this year the President assented to laws that strengthen the fight against gender-based violence (GBV) . He heralded this as a major step forward in fighting against the GBV epidemic and in placing the rights and needs of victims at the centre of interventions.
This report reflects on the research process and findings of a short study designed to explore how the personal, lived experiences of marginalised communities can be creatively expressed with the aim of informing, shaping, and catalysing political and high-level advocacy work.
This webpage centralizes information that is important for refugee and migrant communities to know about during the Covid-19 lock-down. Please contact us on Facebook or at info@scalabrini.org.za with your questions.
Pauline* (name changed to protect her identity) found herself in hospital in Cape Town – alone and struggling with her mental health. Once discharged from hospital, it was likely that Pauline would end up homeless. Working in collaboration with Stikland Psychiatric Hospital and their social worker, the Welfare Team helped facilitate Pauline’s repatriation, back home to the love and support of her family.
As a result of the pandemic there was a shift in the policy from requiring birth registration within 30 days to birth registration within 12 months, before increasing requirements in the late registration of birth process. This is an important step in ensuring the Constitutional rights realisation for every child in South Africa.
The Scalabrini Centre is gathering Zimbabwe Exemption Permit information to assist in our advocacy work seeking documentation solutions.
Education is key, education uplifts and builds individuals and society. We need to educate ourselves and others and see the humanity and dignity of all. Everyone in South Africa whatever their nationality, age gender or belief has the right to dignity and is equal before the law.
This document has been compiled by the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town in order to map various services available to children, including children on the move, in respect of mental health and psychosocial support. The document has adopted a wide interpretation of mental health and psychosocial support services so that it includes more conventional mental health programmes and support, such as the SA depression and anxiety group, as well as other wellbeing personal development-related programmes.
Between 2017-2019, myself and a colleague worked with a small group of women from across the African continent, now living in Johannesburg on an arts-based project entitled Mwangaza Mama.i Each Friday the group would meet to share breakfast, tell stories and work on quilt pieces that we were creating together. During these meetings the women would often talk about the everyday challenges of life in South Africa; of finding work, paying rent, covering school fees, accessing healthcare and staying safe in spaces of high criminality and violence.
“You need to understand trauma to be sensitive to it and then start looking at all your systems,” explains Mike Abrams, a facilitator from Hands On, who is running trauma-informed approach workshops with the Scalabrini Centre. These workshops have been exploring the impact of historical, collective and inter-generational trauma on collectives and organisations.
Through the workshops, Scalabrini is working to equip a group of people within the organisation – staff and peer facilitators – to understand what creates the intergenerational and historical trauma and look at how we can make the centre a more welcoming space – a space “which allows people to thrive and grow despite the pain and difficulty.”
