info@sekwanele.org.za
Please contact us to report child abuse or child neglect.
What We Do
The road to Victory is uphill…together, we can do this!
WHO WE ARE
Sekwanele National Empowerment Fund (Sekwanele) is a registered organization (NPO #: 199-556) based in Johannesburg, in the province of Gauteng, South Africa. This organisation was established by survivors of domestic abuse. Since the organisations establishment in 2017, various like-minded and passionate community members, experts across various fields, religious leaders, community leaders, other welfare organisations and friends that are passionate about the cause, have come onboard to dedicate their time and skills to ensure that the programme reaches its objectives.
OUR VISION
To break the cycle of abuse through our programme offerings to ensure economic independency for survivors by offering the necessary support in the hope that they will not return to abusive partners for financial reasons when they exit places of safety in South Africa.
MISSION STATEMENT
To offer resources to empower victims of domestic violence and to increase awareness of ALL forms of abuse and to work with community partners to provide services for healing the effects of gender based violence.
WHY?
Sekwanele means It is ENOUGH. The organization was formed as a result of the shocking re-victimization statistics in South Africa. Re-victimisation occurs when a survivor returns to her/his abuser after making attempts to escape.
From experience we know that leaving an abusive relationship is a process, not an event; survivors often return several times before the separation is permanent. Research reveals that economic dependency is the strongest predictor of a survivor’s decision to remain, leave, or return to an abusive relationship.
Research further shows that survivors who have more financial independence from their abusers are more likely to leave.
Many often ask: “Why doesn’t he/she just leave the abuser?” There are psychological issues attached to the victims’ reluctance to escape, but we have found that when a survivor does leave an abusive relationship, the likelihood of homelessness, unemployment, and debt is greater. This in turn increases the probability that she/he will return to the abuser or access predatory financial resources to escape or survive.
Sekwanele aim to address these realistic fears through its’ programmes. Our programmes will ensure that survivors are empowered so that they can sustain themselves, provide for their children and not return to abusive partners for financial security when they exit the shelters or escape their abusers .
Sekwaneles’ main objective is to empower survivors through employment and small business development and in doing so we aim to do our bit to decrease the unacceptably high domestic violence rate in South Africa.