The elderly people of Meyerton were recently given guidance by the South African Police Services (SAPS) on how to deal with matters relating to Gender-based Violence (GBV).

The educational session was held by the Meyerton social crime prevention coordinator, sector commander of sector 1, Victim Friendly Facility coordinator and Communication officer in conjunction with GBV brigades from the Department of Community Safety and Alpha Trauma Centre.

This comes after it was discovered that the group, which is deemed as vulnerable in society had challenges in getting assisted or reporting when faced with various social ills including GBV.

Police spokesperson Constable Tlaleng Moloi said, “Police together with the Meyerton GBV brigades realized that elderly people in the community when experiencing abuse and other social problems, they do not know what to do, whom to report to and how to report such occurences.

He further explained, “The purpose of the session was to educate and give out information about the services that SAPS and other stakeholders have forthe elderly in order to protect them against any form of abuse and which door to knock to when they having social problems.”

The protection order in terms of the Domestic Violence Act and protection order in terms of the Harassment Act were explained to them in a simple way that an elderly person can understand.
The elderly people were also urged to break their silence and report any form of abuse they may be experiencing to authorities.

Emergency numbers which include that of the station commander and sector commander of the area were given to them. Alpha trauma also had the chance to explain the services that they offer should the elderly need assistance.