#Women'sDay: Cookie in it for the long haul, helping victims of women abuse
Dedicated to helping women in need, Cookie Edwards is now managing the St Michael’s Women’s Hostel in Sydenham, which is undergoing a much-needed makeover.Picture: Geoff Brink Dedicated to helping women in need, Cookie Edwards is now managing the St Michael’s Women’s Hostel in Sydenham, which is undergoing a much-needed makeover.Picture: Geoff Brink
DURBAN - Cookie Edwards has been helping women who have been victims of abuse for 30 years.
And she knows all about abuse first hand as she was a victim of domestic abuse.
But back then - and before she founded the KZN Network of Violence Against Women - there was not the legislation in place that women could rely on for help, she recalls.
“There are now legal remedies, like Protection Orders and services available for women’s safety and security. Organisations have also stepped forward and helped to break the silence,” she said.
Her organisation now makes women more aware of the options that are available to them, assists with life skills and is dedicated to empowering women and creating safe spaces for them.
When the Daily News ran a campaign more than 10 years ago asking local personalities what they would do if they were the mayor of eThekwini for the day, Edwards said she would make sure there was somewhere for women to go with their children.
There was nowhere for a woman to change a baby’s nappy in the CBD, she said at the time.
“That is still the case,” she said.
The KZN Network on Violence Against Women concentrates on addressing sexual and gender-based violence, violence against women and HIV through early prevention.
And as well as its local links, the Network also works with national and international organisations.
At the moment, Edwards is working on one of the Network’s most ambitious projects: one that many would have walked away from.
“But I like a challenge. I also saw it as an opportunity to help single women and single mothers. This project represents a new start for them and a stepping stone to improve their lives,” she said.
She is managing St Michael’s Women’s Hostel in Sydenham, which is home to 44 women, single women and single mothers, and 30 children.
Built 42 years ago, the hostel was built by the Durban Council of South African Women as a social upliftment project to provide accommodation for the aged and vulnerable women. It is monitored by the Department of Social Development.
The main aim of the hostel is to provide a facility offering the women and their children a roof over their heads, information and resources to enable them to address their situations and receive support on how to improve them.
Many are reliant on social grants which are insufficient to support them and their children. Others have low-paid jobs and cannot afford to rent accommodation, while others are destitute as they are victims of abuse and rejection.
They receive counselling and have the benefit of legal services. They also receive skills training in a bid to help them find jobs.
The police services, ward councillors, faith-based organisations, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development and the Department of Social Development provide a collaborative network of services for the women.
On August 26, in partnership with the Department of Justice, the hostel will play host to the legal advisory mobile clinic.
Now, with the help of sponsors like businesswoman Rosanne Narandas, the hostel is undergoing a makeover, but it is still early days and more sponsors are needed as there is much still to do to meet the maintenance and overhead costs.
* If you can help contact Edwards on 0823210600.