advocacy Archives - Rape Crisis

Access to Post Rape Care, Everywhere

Advocacy, Get Involved, Making Change, Road To Justice, RSJC

If you follow the Rape Survivors’ Justice Campaign’s digital platforms, you have probably come across a post about Thuthuzela Care Centres (TCCs). These are one-stop facilities where rape survivors can access medical care, psychosocial support, and can even report the rape to the police. They sound great. And in many instances they are great. But there are only 55 of them in our country which spans 1,221 million km². That is A LOT of km².

That means there are countless small towns, rural communities and housing settlements where there is no TCC in sight. Nada. Not one. Not even a whiff of a TCC. And the obvious question is, what about rape survivors who don’t have access to such a one-stop facility? That is the question that the RSJC team at Rape Crisis has been grappling with over the past few years. Our successful work on sexual offences courts has shown us that a survivor-centred criminal justice system is important. It has also reminded us that many rape survivors never see the inside of a court, often because they do not have access to the first step in the criminal justice system – post rape care.

As activists and advocates for change, we have to imagine the world as it COULD be. And we imagine access to care, everywhere. We dream of a South Africa where every rape survivor in the 1 221 million km² that is our country has access to:

– medical care,

– a forensic examination,

– psycho-social support,

– a referral for longer term counselling, and the

– means to report the crime at the police.

Every rape survivor having access to these five components of post rape care is the change that we want.

We therefore advocate for these five components/services to be protected in legislation and to be provided to survivors in every corner of the country. The mechanism of how these services are delivered could look different in different contexts. It might be at a local clinic. It might be at a state hospital. It might be in a van. It might be at a TCC.

If you spent your precious time reading this blog, we believe that this is a change that you care about too. This will be a long journey (it took us five years to get Sexual Offences Courts protected in legislation with a set of minimum standards and a plan for the rollout and designation). So Access to Care, Everywhere will probably be no different.

If you are here for that, please follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and share our work so that even more people can join this cause. We WILL need your support!

Written by

Jeanne Bodenstein

Advocacy Specialist

17th February 2022/by Sino

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

Ramaphosa’s SONA and the issue of gender-based violence

Making Change

Cyril Ramaphosa will have to explain on Thursday how the state will give effect to majority party January 8 statement commitments in the light of a shrinking fiscus.

Gender-based violence made it into the January 8 statement of the majority party. And not just a mention – a relatively thorough and honest assessment of the state of women and girl children in South Africa, and in particular the unprecedented levels of abuse, violence and murder suffered by them. The president said “we must hang our heads in shame” at the state of gender-based violence and the patriarchal practices that give rise to it in the country.
Indeed. He also asked the men in the stadium to stand and make a commitment to end gender-based violence. Contrast this with no mention of gender-based violence at all in last year’s January 8 statement.

7th February 2019/0 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

Does Rape Matter?

Advocacy

If the words of magistrates and judges are anything to go by, we would be able to grade rape crimes into categories- from not so bad to worst.

As if the act of rape itself was not traumatic enough, survivors still have to listen to remarks made during trial, that is, if their case makes it to court.

But who monitors what judges and magistrates say in their courtrooms? No one, really.

While it isn’t possible to monitor every single rape judgment handed down (and I wish I personally could), we can, instead, choose the people who are appointed to the bench, very carefully.

27th March 2018/0 Comments/by rapecrisisblog

A Letter to the President 2.0

Advocacy

Dear President Cyril Ramaphosa,

You have failed South African women.

Let me refresh your memory for the reasons why appointing Bathabile Dlamini to represent women is a slap in the face.
As president of the ANC Womens Legaue, Dlamini is no stranger to the struggles facing South African women. Let’s take the scourge of gender based violence, well of course she is familiar with those incidents. It happens often with people in her party and she justifies it.

19th March 2018/0 Comments/by rapecrisisblog

From University to Cape Town: 10 Weeks Later

Advocacy

As I walked into the Rape Crisis office on my first day, I felt out of place, unqualified, and unsure of how I had come to be here, thousands of miles away from home. I had stumbled upon this internship through my university’s website and jumped at the chance for such an experience. I had few to no expectations as to how everything would actually work out. But as I met staff who welcomed me and introduced themselves, those anxious feelings started to dissipate.

Having finished my first year at university as a media studies major, I was hoping to see how the words in my textbook could be applied. Within my major, I focus on advocacy and change which explores how media can be most effectively utilized to create social development and growth. While I have spent ample time reading about topics such as the importance of appealing to a certain audience or the ethics of communication, I was curious to see how these topics would be implemented in a real setting.

4th August 2017/by Sino

Small Victories, Big Change

Advocacy

Yesterday marked one week since our “small” victory in a relatively small committee room on the fifth floor of one of the buildings of Parliament. I use quotes because actually it was no small victory and here is why:

The Parliament of South Africa has two main functions. The one is to make and pass laws (legislate) and the other is to oversee the actions of government departments (provide oversight). However, most of these functions are not performed in the National Assembly or the National Council of Provinces and broadcasted over national television with larger-than-life politicians waving their arms and making elaborate arguments. No, most of Parliament’s work happens when Parliamentary Oversight or Portfolio Committees, consisting of members of parliament, meet in much smaller committee rooms to discuss issues relating to the specific portfolio. This can include pieces of legislation, reports or actions taken by the relevant government department.

12th May 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

Official Launch of the Boschfontein Sexual Offences Court

Advocacy

The Rape Survivors’ Justice Campaign (RSJC) welcomes the official launch of the Boschfontein Sexual Offences Court on 24 March 2017 by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. The RSJC holds government accountable for the promised rollout of sexual offences courts across the country in order to ensure that survivors of sexual offences have access to such a specialised court. In the light hereof, we applaud government for honouring its commitment.

https://www.facebook.com/DoJCD/photos/ms.c.eJxF0NENxDAIA9CNKsCAyf6LVSUH9~;tkYisKUdFinOOeaY9eKMLIUz4QyFRF6Ca8TwIDaTCWyFmIPsEC5bZwQLJPMv7wJYhtcXTCaoEXdphZt9RON~_1EyAC6lrK1uI9iHw3rYfXbAZyAMZ05UN8HQcMWshMVL6QRQGY~-.bps.a.1301017966611408.1073741926.190050961041453/1301018873277984/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/DoJCD/posts/1304581209588417

However, we note with concern that there are still, according to the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development’s official website, only 49 sexual offences courts nationally. This means that the vast majority of communities still do not have access to a survivor-centred criminal justice system to address sexual offences. One such community is Khayelitsha, where we gathered during 16 Days of Activism 2016 to demand that a sexual offences court be established to serve this community. Unfortunately it is still unclear when this will happen.

29th March 2017/by Sino

Tag Archive for: advocacy

Cyril Ramaphosa will have to explain on Thursday how the state will give effect to majority party January 8 statement commitments in the light of a shrinking fiscus.