KNYSNA NEWS - FAMSA focuses on addressing all forms of abuse – not only abuse against women and children, but also against men, the elderly, disabled and anyone else, and FAMSA does this for 365 days a year.
Lou van der Merwe, FAMSA director for Knysna and Plettenberg Bay, says while FAMSA acknowledges and commends efforts to create awareness of abuse during the 16 Days of Activism campaign against abuse of women and chuldren, FAMSA encourages people to seek assistance as soon as possible whenever they become aware of an unhealthy situation.
She says that while unfortunate statistics indicate that women and children are most often the victims of abuse, abuse against all people and animals needs to be addressed.
* 50% of the girls who witnessed violence in the home will become victims;
* 60% of the boys who witnessed violence in the home will become batterers;
* 80% of people in prison grew up in violent homes;
* Sons who witnessed abuse are ten times more likely to abuse their partners;
* 63% of youths between the ages of 11 and 20 years who committed murder, killed the men who abused their mothers.
Van der Merwe says there are several different types of violence and abuse. The following are a few of the more common ones:
* Physical abuse – Kicking, beating, punching (all intended to harm the body);* Emotional abuse – calling other persons bad names, eg stupid, useless, ugly (intended to hurt the person’s feelings);
* Sexual abuse – forcing oneself on somebody without her/ his consent, eg rape (in and out of marriage) or forcing them to observe or perform sexual acts against their will;
* Economic/ financial abuse – controlling everything regarding money (the partner has no say in money matters or may have no access to money).
"We deal with abuse and domestic violence throughout the year by presenting training programmes and workshops and through counselling. We also run two programmes that address many of the issues around abuse – the WOW (Women of Worth) and Men’s programmes - and parenting programmes that assist parents to be the best they can be – this is our very serious investment in the lives of children in our communities."
Anyone who is experiencing problems as a result of abuse and violence is encouraged to contact FAMSA Knysna for assistance at 044 382 5129 and FAMSA Plettenberg Bay at 044 533 0515.
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