Women’s Justice Empowerment Initiative (WJEI) Launch
Remarks by Dr. Carleene Dei, Mission Director; USAID Southern Africa
Cape Town; April 2, 2009

Good afternoon. I would like to begin by acknowledging Advocate Majokwene and thanking her for her unparalleled leadership and commitment to this project.

I would also like to acknowledge our partners in the South African Government, our implementing partner RTI, and especially our guests from the Thuthuzela Care Centres, police stations, NGOs, courts and hospitals who provide direct services to victims of violence. All of you play an extremely crucial role in combating gender based violence in South Africa.   We thank you for your dedication and perseverance.

Just a few weeks ago, a SOWETAN article and headline caught my attention: “Spotlight on raped youngsters: 12,000 child victims in Gauteng last year.” The story reported large numbers of children who never report rape and abuse, as well as the experience of some who do come forward, only to be failed by the system that is supposed to protect them. We have seen similar stories for many years now – many of you in this audience encounter them first hand each and every day.

Former CNN Bureau Chief and journalist, Charlayne Hunter-Gault, has been quoted as saying that: “South Africans have become numb to statistics” regarding such things as rape and crime.  But I believe that today’s launch demonstrates unequivocally that, while this may be true for some, there are many South Africans in the public and private sector who are moving aggressively to address the issue of Violence against Women and Children.

The U.S. Government’s Women’s Justice Empowerment Initiative (WJEI) is a continuation of USAID’s long-standing partnership with the South African government and non-governmental organizations to fight rape and sexual abuse. Over the years, USAID has:

• Provided grants to South African organizations engaged in combating violence against women and children (such as Mosaic, Childline, and GRIP);
• Supported public awareness, materials development and training initiatives through the Department of Justice and the NPA SOCA Unit;
• Supported the piloting and roll-out of the Thuthuzela Care Centre model;
• Most recently, helped to establish 7 new Thuthuzela Centres in 5 provinces. These are in the process of being equipped and staffed, and will be “online” in the next few months.

USAID is proud of these contributions because we believe they have made and will continue to make a difference for the people of South Africa.

Today we begin a new chapter in this partnership: Our goal over the next three years is to significantly increase the availability and quality of services for victims of sexual and gender-based violence in South Africa, including children. Together, with the seven centers already mentioned, this initiative will effectively quadruple the number of Thuthuzela Centres nationally, while upgrading facilities and strengthening services at the already existing sites. USAID will also provide targeted grants to non-governmental organizations working in conjunction with the Thuthuzela Centres to provide additional services such as counseling, outreach and follow-up.

The objectives of this Women’s Empowerment program can be summed up this way:

• One: Access: It is critically important to increase the number of rape survivors who are able to access integrated services and receive essential support, including in rural areas. In addition to expanding the number of Thuthuzela sites, WJEI will work closely with communities to raise awareness of available services and overcome obstacles to accessing them.

• Two: Quality: USAID and our partners are committed to improving the quality and consistency of services delivered to victims of rape and abuse at each link in the chain. Toward this goal, WJEI will support intersectoral training at all new sites and provide technical assistance to help the Thuthuzela Centres comply more fully with national standards for collecting evidence and sexual assault care. Among the priorities is to ensure that all eligible survivors have timely access to post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to prevent HIV infection from sexual assault.

• Three: Sustainability: Through WJEI, USAID will work to build the capacity of stakeholders at all levels and will work with government to ensure that the Thuthuzela Centres continue after donor funding ends.  

WJEI is an ambitious project – and there are many challenges. We are mindful of the fact that some of the existing Thuthuzela Centres have struggled to fully implement the model and that new sites will face similar challenges.

Still, we have a great deal of confidence in this program -- and above all, in our partners. The Thuthuzela Care Centre is a “best practice” model with proven capacity to “turn victims into survivors.”   It is a best practice model that attracts people from overseas to see how to deal with rape and abuse in an integrated, holistic manner.

Your support – and the support of every department represented here today – will be crucial to the success of this initiative.

We look forward to working with you and thank you in advance for your support.