activism Archives - Rape Crisis

Get Involved Now.

A new year always provides the opportunity to take on new challenges. Perhaps you are inspired to be more active in bringing about social change, but don’t know how. Our social media followers often ask us how they can get more involved with the Rape Survivors Justice Campaign (RSJC), so we have drafted an easy step-by-step guide:
Ways to be more politically and socially active

The next time you are with family or friends, instead of letting conversation drift to idle chatter or celebrity gossip, discuss a particular cause that is close to your heart or that you feel strongly about.
Stay focussed on one cause. It is fine to take up many causes, but always recognise your main cause.
Find a political magazine, a local newspaper or an online blog and write for them on issues relating to your cause.
Organize a group of four or five people and attend protests together.
Talk to people that are different from you as a way to challenge stereotypes.

25th February 2019/0 Comments/by zaheed

PRESS RELEASE: SONA 2019

Making Change

Presidential Commitment to support for Rape Survivors: A Victory
During the State of the Nation Address, delivered on 7 February 2019, President Cyril Ramaphosa more than once mentioned the issue of gender based violence. He confirmed that more funds will be dedicated to places of support, such as Thuthuzela Care Centres, and that government is working to ensure the better functioning of Sexual Offences courts. Funds must be made available to civil society organisations who already provide specialist support services to survivors to continue to deliver and expand these services. This will mean that more rape survivors can access justice and support services.

We are pleased that the President committed to work with partners in civil society to implement the decisions of the National Summit on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide which took place last year.
We believe that all survivors of sexual offences should have access to a specialised court. Rape Crisis Director Kathleen Dey says, “We believe that the culture of impunity for perpetrators of rape will be addressed by a stronger criminal justice system with support services, sexual offences courts and more prosecutions”.

8th February 2019/0 Comments/by rapecrisisblog

Drug Facilitated Sexual Assault

Advocacy

In recent years, drug facilitated rape (date rape) has become a more prominent cause of
concern in public discourse. Drink spiking has become synonymous with sexual assault, drug rape and date rape. The typical scenario of drink spiking involves a public space such as a bar, a club, a restaurant, a shebeen or a date setting. It could however also happen in more private settings, such as the home. The perpetrator targets a victim, by secretly spiking his or her drink with a drug. The drug used is often Rohypnol, but also Tik. When the victim becomes incapacitated, the perpetrator could abuse the victim’s vulnerable situation by sexually assaulting, raping and robbing him or her. Tik serves not only to render a victim helpless but also addicted and dependent on the rapist for drug supply thereafter even after he is convicted and jailed.

24th December 2018/0 Comments/by rapecrisisblog

Making strides in fighting for sexual offences courts

Making Change

The Rape Survivors’ Justice Campaign was conceived and established in 2016. We have one aim: the planned and funded rollout of sexual offences courts as promised by the government. This is a big ask and we envision that this long-term advocacy campaign will probably take at least ten years. Since our launch on Women’s Day in 2016 we have made great strides and progress and we will continue to build on this in the future.

Our campaign advocates for the national rollout of sexual offences courts to such an extent that all rape survivors will eventually have access to a specialised court. We believe that these courts should first be established in areas with high rates of reported sexual offences, which is one of the issues that we advocate for in the regulations and our engagement with the Department of Justice.

10th October 2018/0 Comments/by rapecrisisblog

Give Your 67 Minutes to Rape Survivors this Mandela Day

Making Change

Whether you’ve already signed up to attend Rape Crisis’ Mandela Day event on July 15th or have yet to sign up, learn more about Thuthuzela Care Centres (TCC) and how your own community is affected. I spoke with Nomnqweno Nomxhego-Gqada, Thuthuzela Care Centre coordinator, to shed some light on the importance of these care centres and how our Mandela Day event will contribute towards this effort.

Nomnqweno Nomxhego-Gqada

Nomnqweno describes how TCC’s are distinct from other care centres, providing a multitude of services all in one location. In addition, counsellors are present at all times to provide greater accessibility and emotional care. The several services present in a TCC contribute to one goal as stated by Nomnqweno, “[to make] the survivor more aware of what to expect and minimise the level of trauma as [the survivor] will not be telling their story each time they meet a service provider.” TCC’s play an essential role in increasing conviction rates as they allow a greater number of clients to have testing which will provide DNA evidence in court.

10th July 2017/by Sino

One Rape is Too Many

Advocacy

“SA shocked by murders and rapes”…“Spate of women and child murders-a crisis!”

These are just some of the headlines we have seen over the last month in the media, focusing on telling the stories of violence and horror inflicted on women and children.

The immediate reaction for many is one of shock, despair, anger and panic. For many South Africans, their first point of call for expressing these emotions is social media.

News stories are often shared on Facebook and accompanied by comments such as “rape in SA is getting out of hand,” “government is failing us,” etc.

The other reaction is a “knee jerk” one, which begs people to ask, “How did this happen?” Others immediately think, “How can we tackle this crisis?”

But let’s just stop and examine the facts before panicking and throwing around this word “CRISIS”.

19th June 2017/by Sino

Activist Training – Applications Now Open at Rape Crisis

Advocacy

The Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust has a 40 year history of training activists to bring about change in the way we deal with rape in our society. The need for radical change in our country is still as strong as ever but there is not a lot of training for individuals or groups on how to bring about this kind of deep sustainable transformation.

Over the years Rape Crisis has trained counsellors, community educators and activists from the communities we serve in the hope of leaving a legacy that strengthens and empowers the women of these communities to respond to rape and to stand up for their rights.

The Rape Survivors’ Justice Campaign was launched in 2016. (Pic: Alexa Sedge)

18th April 2017/by Sino

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