Focus on women
Victims of abuse and violence need professional help to heal and become empowered survivors
Physical scars left by violence and abuse may fade over time, but the emotional scars may never heal if not treated.
The Department of Social Development says that victims of violence and abuse who seek professional help benefit greatly from external interventions, which help them heal and become empowered survivors rather than victims.
“If violence and abuse, especially against children, are not addressed, they have the potential to turn a child into an abuser or a victim for life.The emotional effects, which are invisible, will be felt on the structure and functioning of the brain and impact the behaviour of the person,” says the department's spokesperson, Lumka Oliphant.
“Counselling, psychotherapy and psycho-social support are the most effective interventions to transform a victim into a survivor,” she adds.
The support of a person's family and significant others are also important because they reassure the survivor of abuse that there is nothing wrong with them; instead, their rights were violated by the person who perpetrated the crime and violence against them.
She says this support is important to strengthen the intervention of professionals and alleviate the anxiety, stress and other negative behavioural effects, such as low self-esteem.
Moving forward
By seeking professional help, the person will learn from the experience and move forward as a survivor of violence and abuse, rather than a victim.
“Untreated violence contributes to post traumatic stress disorder which changes one's functioning completely. Victims can also live in fear and that has the potential to drive them into depression and isolation.”
Professional assistance is meant to restore the victim to a state as close as possible to that which existed prior to the offence or victimisation and, ideally, to a state where the person is able to learn and grow.
It is acknowledged that victims do not all have the same degree of need for empowerment and support, which means a diversity of responses are needed when it comes to recovering from abuse.
“Such needs are met through a well-managed, integrated, multidisciplinary team approach,” says Oliphant.
Psycho-social support is an ongoing process of meeting the physical, emotional, social, mental and spiritual needs of individuals, all of which are meaningful and aid positive development, enabling survivors to develop resilience and to approach situations differently.
Victim Empowerment Programme
In response to its psycho-social support mandate, the department developed the Victim Empowerment
Programme (VEP), which not only provides support services but has the potential to prevent and reduce crime and violence.“This service is rendered because humans are basically rational, socialised and realistic and they have an inherent tendency to strive towards growth, self-actualisation and self-direction,” Oliphant explains.
“Empowerment of victims in a holistic manner reduces secondary victimisation, encourages their cooperation with the criminal justice process, reinforces socially desired behaviour and acts as a deterrent to offenders or potential offenders,” she adds.
To ensure its VEP is effective and farreaching, the department partners with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that have experience in the provision of victim support. These partners are responsible for, among others, the running of temporary safe spaces – like the White Door initiative, shelters and victim advocacy groups.
Some of the interventions provided to protect and support victims through these partnerships include: • Crisis intervention and overnight accommodation for victims,
• Temporary and containment facilities,
• Referral to VEP-approved shelters for further interventions within 24 hours, and
• Linkages with local police stations and health services.
The department also partners with NGOs and other stakeholders in its Khuseleka programme, which provides for a number of one-stop centres that enable victims to receive trauma counselling and psychosocial support, healthcare, police services, legal assistance and shelter services, to name a few, all under one roof.
“Social workers of the department and civil society partners are always available to provide psychosocial support in the empowerment of victims,” Olifant says.
Additionally, the care and support of victims include services rendered by medical doctors and nurses, and mental health practitioners such as psychologists and psychiatrists.
While doctors and nurses attend to the physical wounds of victims, the mental health practitioners focus on the emotional impact of their traumatic experiences.
Oliphant says it is critical for victims to speak out about their abuse and to seek help.
“It is important that victims feel safe when reporting a case, which means they should not be judged by the people assisting them, be it at a police station, hospital, clinic, church, White Door safe space or a traditional leader.
The department's Gender-based Violence Command Centre (GBVCC) has a mandate to provide psycho-social support services to victims of crime and violence. Its priority is to ensure that victims receive immediate support.
As a service available to the public, Oliphant says the GBVCC has been playing a critical role during the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown period. Among other services, it is available 24-hours a day to refer and share general information on other government services available to the public during national lockdown.
GBVCC lockdown statistics
Before lockdown, from 1 to 26 March, the centre received 4 494 telephone calls, 208 Please Call Me messages and 281 SMSes, of which 133 were GBV-related.
Between 27 March and 12 May, the centre received 28 990 calls, 3 008 Please Call Me messages and 1 501 SMSes, of which 1 114 were cases related to GBV.
President Cyril Ramaphosa says reports of increased levels of GBV since the lockdown started are very disturbing.
“The scourge of GBV continues to stalk our country as the men of our country declared war on the women. We have developed an emergency pathway for survivors to ensure that the victims of GBV are assisted,” he says.
One of the interventions is to ensure lockdown regulations are structured to allow a woman to leave her home to report abuse, without the fear of a fine, intimidation or further violence.