A local women-only trail running event recently called on participants to donate items to make up care packages for victims of gender-based violence (GBV).
This is according to Dr Shaundré Jacobs, a senior lecturer of sport science at Stellenbosch University (SU) and co-organiser of Stellies Shake Out (SSO), a community trail running crew in Stellenbosch that was started to promote safety for solo female athletes.
The event was hosted in honour of Women’s Day, said Jacobs.
Various items, including sanitary products and toiletries, donated by participants in the Stellies Shake Out (SSO) Women’s Day trail run on 10 August. This is according to Dr Shaundré Jacobs, co-organiser of SSO. PHOTO: Supplied/Shaundré Jacobs
Donations toward care packages
The trail run, which took place at Muratie Wine Estate on 10 August, was free of charge, but runners were encouraged to donate toiletries, sanitary products, or ‘comfort items’ such as books, blankets, and underwear for care packages, according to Danica Lightening, a BCom Honours student at Red and Yellow Creative School of Business and an SSO member.
“Most of us ladies didn’t even know the process followed when you are raped,” said Jacobs. “You obviously have to fill out a case, but you also go to [care centres] as a shelter to be protected, so you don’t have the things there that you normally would and that’s where the toiletries, […] and comfort items are needed.”
Women participate in a women-only trail run hosted at Muratie Wine Estate. This was the most recent event in Stellies Shake Out’s (SSO) annual Women’s Day runs, which support a different women-related charity each year. This is according to Dr Shaundré Jacobs, a senior lecturer of sport science at Stellenbosch University (SU) and co-organiser of SSO, a community trail running crew in Stellenbosch. PHOTO: Kiara Wales
‘Women need to support women’
“I used to volunteer at Rape Crisis […] and was recently informed that all of the items within the care packages that we assembled [then] were donated,” said Zinhle Novazi, an SU faculty member at the department for mercantile law, and a past participant in various women’s safety initiatives, including the Saartjie Baartman Centre for Women and Children.
“With the build-up of violence against women in South Africa, I decided to appeal to local communities to contribute to this initiative, especially leading up to Women’s Day,” she said.
From left to right: Nicole Bosch, Vuvu Radebe, Caro Jordaan, Dr Shaundré Jacobs, and Monique Agenbag, who all participated in a women-only charity trail run on 10 August. “The charity drive is part of the reason we were interested in the event, because it’s nice to run for a reason and we wanted to support women in need,” said Asher Tate, a second-year BCom (Management Sciences) student, and Chloe Tate, a second-year BA (Humanities) student, who participated in both the charity drive and trail run. PHOTO: Kiara Wales
The charity drive tied in with SSO’s focus on women empowerment and safety in numbers, according to Jacobs. “We are trying to come up with solutions instead of complaints,” she said. “Women need to support women or nothing’s going to be done.
The donations collected from the SSO event were assembled into care packages and combined with contributions from other local running clubs and community members’ contributions, said Novazi.
The care packages, made up of underwear, sanitary pads, notepads, and toys for child victims, were then dropped off at various Rape Crisis centres located in Cape Town the following day, according to Novazi.
One of the care packages that were assembled from donations collected from a recent women-only trail run. The items were divided into packages and grouped by age and gender, before being dropped off at various centres in Cape Town managed by Rape Crisis. This is according to Zinhle Novazi, a Stellenbosch University (SU) faculty member at the department for mercantile law, and a past participant in various women’s safety initiatives, including the Saartjie Baartman Centre for Women and Children. PHOTO: Supplied/Zinhle Novazi