A true child of Mzantsi and A true Mother, Sr. Mary Paule died at age 82 years ,Nun, murdered in Mthatha. 

Join hands against violence on women and make a change in your community.

 SOCIAL CHANGE, is a non-profit organisation dedicated in the community to helping abused women and children on the way towards a life free violence. 

Providing safety shelter, counselling, education, campaigns and legal advocacy, we empower women and children by giving them support and care they need to become their lives and their future.

SOCIAL CHANGE offers completely free services to the community, has diversified staff consisting of many formerly abused and offers services in several communities and seek to provide in different languages to meet the needs of women and children and their cultures 

Programs currently available in the organisation

The organisation provides both direct and indirect services. Even though the organisation has very limited resources, its making its efforts that it integrate its resources to provide sound services and campaigns to its intended recipients.

·         Support Group Systems: Since the initiation of the organisation a month ago, the SOCIAL CHANGE have initiated 7 support groups in different areas. These support groups are being led by Women's Health Coordinator who give support and care.

·         Counseling Support Center: The project has established a counselling support center that will assists women in need of urgent attention. The needy women see the counsellor once a week due to very limited resources. Currently the SOCIAL CHANGE organisation has one center to cater these needs and it opens once a week from 9am to 4pm. We currently have two dedicated counsellors who voluntarily provide these services. Since the initiative, a beneficiary is receiving highly intensive care at local hospital psychiatry ward:

·         Organising: Help to develop and introduce the services we have at communal level. More than 10 different stakeholders including communities have been reached in conducting the needs analysis and referral based support system.

·         Campaign's and women and children rights coordination: In referral to other institutions, the project has helped people who battle to have their court case battleship. The aim of the project is to assist and support women who are vulnerable to circumstances as outlined in its aims and objectives.

·         Children Support Center: The organisation is in consultation with other institutions in ensuring that lives of young girls and children are being protected. The program will scale up soup kitchen to assists those who went to school hungry and to provide other necessities.

 DECLARE VIOLENCE BASED TO WOMEN AND CHILDREN A STATE OF EMEGENRCY!

 “I could not believe that such a loving husband, who usually brings all the joy in my life, could turn against me… I thought I was responsible for his behavior; I never give everything he wanted till such time I realised that there was nothing more left to give him. He usually calls my name nicely while he was abusing me and violating my rights. I became depressed and my children suffered different forms of abuse by him. I couldn't believe when he raped our daughter and repeatedly physically abused his own son. Every night I cried and nothing more could help. He turned my children against me and made me a completely stranger in our own home. He ordered children not to dish me on the food that were bought by him and made me watch them eating while we sit altogether. He made me exchange his favors for sex and was even jailed by my own loving husband…” Dudu 

(A sad story told by Dudu)

The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has launched, on the 23^rd June 2008, a set of guidelines that will be used to assist magistrate on how to effectively deal with cases involving victims of domestic violence. It is believed to be against the views with regard to protecting women and children. This was another step forward in ensuring that the rights of victims of domestic violence are affirmed and protected. The guidelines was also believed would improve services to the majority of people who had their rights to dignity stripped away by perpetrators. The guidelines will provide a better and more reliable analysis of domestic violence act of 1998 from the perspective of independent of magistrate.

Many victims of domestic violence are afraid or scared to ask for help because they might end up loosing the perpetrator who usually the bread winner in the family. South Africa has a constitution that guarantees protection for all .

Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, child abuse or intimate partner violence (IPV), can be broadly define a pattern of abusive behaviours by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, friends or cohabitation. Domestic has many forms including physical aggression (hitting, kicking, biting, shoving, restraining, throwing objects), or threats thereof; sexual abuse; emotional abuse; controlling or domineering; intimidation; stalking; covert abuse (e.g. neglect); economic deprivation and more.According to the constitutional Court of South Africa, women were under the social and even legal control of their fathers and/ or husbands and were recognised as the second-class citizens for many years. Black women were obviously doubly disadvantaged as a result of their race and their gender. Customary law, for instance gives black women the status of minors and excludes them from rights regarding children and property.

Nowadays women and black women in particular are still economically disadvantaged. They make up a disproportionate of the lower paid jobs such as domestic and farm labourers. They often earn less than man for the same tasks. South African women and children also contend with extremely high rates of rape and domestic violence.