The Department of Social Work and Criminology supports the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children campaign that commenced on 26 November 2016, with the theme: “Count Me In: Together Moving a Non-Violent South Africa Forward”. One of the objectives of the campaign is to “draw attention to the many ways violence against women and children affects the lives of people in all communities around the world” (South African Government, 2017). This year, the Minister of Social Development, Ms Bathabile Dlamini, urged all South Africans and especially women and children who are victims of violence, to make use of the 24-hour call centre of the Department’s Gender-based Violence Command Centre for support and guidance by trained social workers (Department of Social Development, 2017).

Many events and news reports in the printed and electronic media focused on the high incidence of violence against women and children during the 16 days of the campaign. However, interpersonal violence is a social issue which social workers and criminologists deal with daily in their work situation. The Optimus Study South Africa Technical Report (UBS Optimus Foundation, 2016), based on a national population survey among adolescents, highlights the problem of children’s exposure to abuse and neglect as well as social issues associated with the problem. The report further highlights that social workers are frontline role players in dealing with child abuse; however, that these workers experience major challenges in terms of unsafe work environments, high caseloads, staff shortages, and limited resources.

Social welfare services are grounded in a human rights-based approach. Social work interventions are aimed at social change which enhance the social functioning and improve the well-being and quality of life of individuals, families and communities. As it is well known that incidents of violence against women and children remain underreported, our Department supports the Minister’s call for victims of violence to make use of the 24-hour call centre.

Furthermore, we appeal to Government to address fundamental issues related to the delivery of social welfare services in South Africa: to address the shortage of qualified social workers by appointing the large number of unemployed graduates in the country; reinstituting scholarships for social work students; addressing poor salaries and infrastructure; and prioritising adequate funding of non-governmental organisations who are  at the forefront of rendering services to vulnerable children, women and families. The social work profession needs an enabling environment for providing appropriate and effective services to families and communities, and to address the structural injustices and the social and economic problems that are associated with violence against women and children.