The Justice Desk’s Mbokodo Club (TJD) is celebrating two years of educating girl survivors of rape and gender-based violence in Nyanga.
With a special focus on self-defence and fitness, female empowerment and leadership workshops, as well as access to mental healthcare support, the girls, aged between nine and 19, are challenging the status quo, moving from “victims to victors” and to lead change in their communities.
The organisation hosted Prince Harry and his wife Meghan in Nyanga when they were in the country last year.
Reflecting on the past two years, TJD CEO, Jessica Dewhurst says: “Watching the incredible transformation in each one of our Mbokodo Queens is truly a gift.
“From having had the privilege of hosting the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Harry and Meghan, in Nyanga, to bringing on an additional group of girls this year, our Mbokodo girls, the Nyanga community and our incredible partners are truly making a great impact in the country.
“TJD will continue to champion these change-makers, and drive true transformation through our belief in ‘Everyday Activism’.”
Dewhurst says she believes the only way the country can begin to dismantle the drivers of gender-based violence and femicide is through active participation in challenging the patriarchal societal norms that undermine the existence, respect and protection of women and girls.
One of the girl survivors, who cannot be named, says she’s learnt a lot: “I now know that we as women and children should not be ashamed to speak up when we are being abused.
“I have also learned that we can do so much as children and that we don’t have to shrink ourselves so that others can feel big when around us or with us.”