Pretoria - Government’s 24-hour Gender-Based Violence Command Centre (GBVCC) -- which provides telephonic support and counselling to victims of gender-based violence -- is up for another award.
A team from the Department of Social Development made its way to Las Vegas on Tuesday for the Global Best Contact Centre Awards and is hoping to come back with the top prize.
The Global Best Contact Centre Awards take place between 2 and 5 November, with the recipient of Best Contact Centre in the World Award expected to be announced on 5 November.
The GBVCC, which was launched by Minister Bathabile Dlamini in March 2014, has already been recognised locally and in the continent for its innovative approach and excellence in fighting gender-based violence.
It has won two highly acclaimed service awards in the Innovation Award in the Contact Centre Management Group (CCMG) Awards and the Changing Lives Award in the Africom Awards.
The GBVCC also participated and competed with Africa, Asia and Europe in the Technological Innovation Awards in London and won the golden award.
The toll free number to call to speak to a social worker for assistance and counselling is 0800 428 428 (0800 GBV GBV).
Callers can also request a social worker from the Command Centre to contact them by dialling *120*7867# (free of charge) from any cell phone.
Since inception, the call centre has taken more than 24 046 calls and received more than 22 683 ‘please call me’ messages from distraught members of the public who need help in one way or another, says the Department of Social Development.
“The Command Centre has attended to a variety emergency situations including indecent assault, physical violence, rape, abandoned children and verbal abuse. It has also attended to cases of stalking, emotional abuse, sexual harassment, forced marriages, forced prostitution, elderly citizen abuse, bullying and has even intervened in family disputes, to name a few,” spokesperson Lumka Oliphant said on Tuesday.
She attributed the success of the GBVCC to a comprehensive, integrated system that provides immediate, consistent, coordinated and timely support to victims of gender-based violence.
“It uses mobile technology to estimate the location of a victim, assign the closest social worker in the field to the case, and record and receive continuous feedback on the case,” said Oliphant.
The centre is also staffed by trained social workers/command centre agents who provide immediate counselling to victims and help them to avoid or minimise further exposure to gender-based violence.
When a caller contacts the GBVCC from a mobile phone, they are (with explicit permission) geographically located, enabling the centre to determine the resources nearest to the caller - whether it be a social worker, police station, hospital or safe house. In this way, help is dispatched quickly. - SAnews.gov.za
