Victim Support Unit impresses Mlambo-Ngcuka

The visiting United Nations Women executive director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka yesterday lauded the Police Victim Support Unit (VSU) system which empowers women and children to report cases of abuse in the family.

Mlambo-Ngcuka is on her first official country visit since she was appointed to head the UN agency in August this year and has since visited Kanengo Police Station which has a model VSU.

Between January and August this year, Kanengo Police registered 2 342 cases, with an average of 25 to 35 cases a day ranging from physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional or psychological abuse and economic abuse.

Mlambo-Ngcuka said the VSU was a unique system which showed that Police, as law enforcers, could be compassionate by welcoming vulnerable groups like women and children to a police station.

“This is very impressive and it is good to see that law enforcers in their formal state are doing their work. This is not something they are taught at school [police] but it comes from the heart, the compassion to help women and other victims from the community,” she said.

VSU national coordinator Patricia Njawili said VSU was a unique system which used law enforcement mechanism and power of the Police making the women and children feel safer and confident that the perpetrators of violence would be apprehended.

Between January and August this year, there were 51 convictions registered, the majority of which were defilement and indecent assault.

Kanengo Police officer-in-charge Lyness Soko said police were happy with the statistics because it meant the communities were no longer hiding the shameful acts and it had confidence in the Police to see through the cases.

During her three-day visit, Mlambo-Ngcuka is also expected to government officials and other stakeholders in the gender and women empowerment sector.