“I receive many reports from people whom I think could not have had the courage to report if the Centre had not conducted workshops in our community. Men are now able to come to the office and report their abuse as well.” 
                                                                                                                       - Respondent, 2007 Impact Study

Coordinators try to address underlying problems in communities, one of which is an ignorance of the protections offered to them by law. For example domestic violence and sexual abuse are so entrenched in some areas that many women and children do not even know that they are illegal. The aim of educational activities is to raise awareness and enable people to identify, avoid and report abuse, and to assert their rights without having to use the support centres. 

Coordinators conduct presentations in schools and community forums such as police stations, community halls and clinics on the subject of domestic violence, rape, child abuse and maintenance laws. They distribute flyers in English and Zulu at these gatherings.

They also conduct smaller focus groups on similar topics, often in people’s homes, in order to find out what subjects need to be addressed in presentations.

In 2011, coordinators gave 60 school presentations to 23,263 learners, and gave 26 community presentations that were attended by 1242 adults.

Among topics covered at presentations are that:

• Verbal and emotional abuse is part of domestic violence
• Women have the right to say no to sex with a husband
• If you beat your wife, she can report you and you can go to jail
• Both parents have an obligation to maintain a child
• Shouting at a child is child abuse
• A child has a right to be fed, go to school and be dressed
• If you are raped, you should report it to the police
• If a person is raped, they should not bath before giving evidence

“I knew about the Support Centre through the workshop that I attended that was conducted in our area. Now I know my rights and where to go whenever I have a problem.” 
                                                               - Respondent, 2009 Impact Study

To support these educational activities, the CCJ has simplified and published certain laws as flyers in Zulu and English. Having in their hands legal information that they can understand allows ordinary people to access the rights conferred on them by the law. These flyers contain written information illustrated by small cartoons, (right) and are distributed at presentations. Read some examples

“What I like about the fliers is that they also have illustrations, which show the incidents they are talking about in the publication.”

                                                               - Client, 2007 Impact Study