Campaign Raises Funds for Gender Based Violence
A New Generation Committed to Social Justice and Change
Highschool student Khetiwe Kingston has a lot on her mind. When lock down hit she said goodbye to many of her friends from Waterford Kamhlaba, a United World College in Swaziland, who had come from all around the world to study there. “We thought it was a temporary goodbye,” she said, but now accepts it may have been their final time together. With only five months left of the International Baccalaureate programme, uncertainty about whether they will have to sit exams along with where she will go to University are all up in the air due to the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic.
Yet in the midst of this personal upheaval, Khetiwe launched a fundraising campaign to help respond to the spike in gender-based and domestic violence that has come with the lock down. Setting an ambitious goal to raise 225,000 rand, she said she could not just do nothing after reading about how women were being negatively impacted. “I am traumatized by the event I read of yesterday where pregnant 28-year-old Tshegofatso Pule was found stabbed and hung in Roodepoort. I hope that the dysfunctional criminal justice system ensures that her murder is not just a statistic.”
Raising Funds for Gender Based Violence
She approached SJI to identify an organisation that helps the most vulnerable communities.
Khetiwe Kingston partnered with Community Justice and Development (CCJD)
SJI recommended three organisations and after conducting her own research, Khetiwe decided to support the Centre for Community Justice and Development (CCJD) in KwaZulu-Natal which enables access to justice in rural communities.
“I am passionate about gender equality” she explains, “I have grown up being inspired by many strong female role models in my life. In the midst of the Black Lives Matter Movement that it is black transgender women who are the most susceptible to violence. When looking at these situations, we need to appreciate the many intersecting identities of women which put them at disadvantages.”
She said she has used social media and her network of friends to spread the word about her fundraising campaign. “While many of my friends are still students themselves so without an income, they have helped to share with their families and friends and while many people may be supporting my personal efforts, I hope they also learn more about the cause we are supporting.”
Jabu Sangweni, Director of CCJD,
said the support could not have come at a better time as they face funding cuts from some of their international donors despite the growing need for their services during COVID 19. The funds will be used to help communities address gender- based violence and child abuse.
Khetiwe is half-way through achieving her online campaign goal, which SJI will match by adding R150,000. SJI Executive Director, Bongi Mlangeni, said:
“We find Khetiwe’s efforts inspiring and we hope more people will follow in her footsteps.”
SJI has disbursed over R80m since 2015, raised by forming partnerships with philanthropists. “We connect individual donors to organisations we have already vetted and whenever possible we match their contributions using funds raised from international donors. We want to ensure that civil society partners who work directly with communities can access more resources and sustain the important work they do in making SA a fairer society,” Bongi added.
You can join Khetiwe and make it possible for her to reach her goal by clicking here: https://gogetfunding.com/womens-double-burden-against-gbv-and-covid-19/
