Research knowledge base for GBV questions, methods, and service pathways

Gender-based violence is harm or abuse that happens because of unequal power relations and social expectations about gender. It can include physical, sexual, emotional, psychological, verbal, economic, and other forms of abuse in both public and private life.

South Africa's National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide is a statutory body meant to provide strategic leadership and coordinate a multi-sector response involving government, civil society, labour, and business. Its role is to strengthen and better resource the national response to GBVF.

The study found that 7.7% of women aged 18 and older had a disability. The most commonly reported disabilities were difficulty walking or climbing steps (3.5%) and difficulty seeing even when wearing glasses (3.0%).

Yes. Survivors should be given information about medical procedures after rape, including HIV prevention measures such as post-exposure prophylaxis, as well as other relevant treatment and follow-up care. Asking early is important because some interventions are time-sensitive.

Rape Crisis explains that at a TCC a counsellor should greet the survivor, explain the procedures, and provide emotional support for the survivor and any support person who has come along. The doctor then takes a history, performs a medical examination, and may collect forensic samples from the body and clothing.

Rape Crisis court resources describe measures such as intermediaries and closed-circuit television that can help protect witnesses while they testify. These measures matter because participation in court should not depend on a survivor having to endure avoidable intimidation.

The RAPSSA report explains that the SAECK is the standard kit used during a forensic medical examination to collect samples for DNA analysis in sexual offence cases. It is part of the formal evidence process and is used for both children and adults.

No. The report is a national baseline survey with subgroup findings, not a municipality-level prevalence dataset. It is useful for context, benchmarking, and understanding patterns, but not for claiming that a specific municipality has a measured GBV rate from this source alone.

The strongest use is as a public context and pathway layer that explains why certain services matter, where support journeys often begin, and which types of support should exist together. It should complement local directory coverage and service-gap analysis rather than substitute for local prevalence data.

UNODC cautions that international trafficking figures only reflect victims who came into contact with authorities and were detected. Hidden exploitation is far larger, so low detection should never be mistaken for low prevalence.

The report describes itself as the first fit-for-purpose national GBV prevalence study across all nine provinces, using a population-based household survey and internationally recognised WHO-aligned measurement approaches. That makes it especially useful as a baseline for national context and trend tracking.

The HSRC report explains that police data are shaped by under-reporting, fear of retaliation, stigma, weak documentation, and lack of trust in authorities. That is why a population-based survey is needed to understand violence that never reaches official records.

Not always. The RAPSSA report found that special measures such as intermediaries and other child-sensitive supports were not routinely used even where they appeared relevant. That gap matters because legal protections only help if courts actually apply them.

The HSRC baseline found that 35.5% of women aged 18 years and older reported lifetime physical and/or sexual violence, and 7.0% reported recent physical and/or sexual violence in the past 12 months. It also found that 23.9% of ever-partnered women reported lifetime physical and/or sexual IPV.

The HSRC report shows that many survivors first disclose to family and friends rather than to formal institutions. Among women who disclosed IPV, 64.2% told family, while far fewer reported telling authorities or using specialist services, which has major implications for service design and outreach.

The national baseline found a higher lifetime burden of violence among women with disabilities on several indicators, including physical violence, sexual violence, and combined physical and/or sexual violence. That makes disability-aware services and accessible support pathways a serious response need, not a nice-to-have.

The study found that 25.1% of ever-partnered women had experienced one or more acts of emotional abuse in their lifetime, and 10.0% had experienced emotional abuse in the past 12 months. This shows that emotional abuse is a major part of the GBV burden, not a secondary issue.

The HSRC baseline found that 13.1% of ever-partnered women had experienced one or more acts of economic abuse in their lifetime, while 4.5% had experienced economic abuse in the past 12 months. Among men, 14.8% reported lifetime perpetration of one or more economic abuse acts and 5.3% reported recent perpetration.

The report found that 57.6% of ever-partnered women had experienced one or more controlling behaviours from a partner. On the men's side, 77.2% of ever-partnered men agreed with one or more statements reflecting controlling behaviour in their current or most recent relationship.

TEARS Foundation describes trauma-informed care as an approach that recognises how trauma affects a survivor and tries to provide support in ways that prioritise safety, trust, empowerment, and minimising re-traumatisation. In practice, it means the service experience matters as much as the formal procedure.

A survivor should seek urgent medical care and support as soon as possible, ideally through a Thuthuzela Care Centre, public hospital, clinic, or police referral pathway. It is often helpful to avoid washing or changing clothes before medical or forensic examination if the survivor wants evidence preserved.

TCCs are important because they reduce the need for survivors to move from office to office in the aftermath of trauma. Their purpose is to minimise secondary victimisation, improve case handling, and support faster, more coordinated responses.

UNHCR South Africa points survivors to many of the same national helplines used in the broader South African system, including the GBV Command Centre, shelter services, TCCs, SAPS, and counselling lines. It also shares practical contact information for province-specific Thuthuzela Care Centres and other referral options.

Shelter access is often coordinated through the National Shelter Movement and through local survivor-support organisations. Some national guidance pages list dedicated shelter helplines, while organisations like TEARS and POWA can also help connect survivors to places of safety.

An ally can listen, believe the survivor, respect confidentiality, and help them think through safety and support options. Practical help might include transport, safe communication, childcare, documenting information, or helping the survivor connect with helplines and services they choose.

The Saartjie Baartman Centre is described as a one-stop centre offering 24-hour crisis response, shelter, psycho-social support, services for children, and programmes that help survivors rebuild their lives. It is a useful example of the kind of multi-service infrastructure that improves real-world access to help.

Childline offers crisis-line support, basic counselling, and referral for children and for adults concerned about children. Its role is especially relevant where domestic violence or sexual abuse affects minors or where someone needs a child-focused entry point into the support system.

Rape Crisis provides free, confidential counselling for rape survivors, alongside education, training, advocacy, and public work aimed at improving support services and challenging rape myths. Its work is built around both survivor recovery and broader social change.

POWA's second-stage housing offers transitional accommodation for survivors who are ready to move out of emergency shelter but still need affordable, safer housing while rebuilding independence. This kind of bridge support can be crucial after the immediate crisis has passed.

The Centre says it directly manages a 24-hour crisis response programme, residential shelter and housing, psycho-social support including children's counselling, a substance abuse programme, and job-skills training. That makes it a strong local example of holistic survivor support in practice.

Rape Crisis materials emphasise that the first 72 hours can be especially important for medical treatment such as HIV prevention and for collecting forensic evidence. Survivors should still seek help after that window, but early care can expand immediate options.

Rape Crisis guidance recommends paper, cloth, or newspaper instead of plastic when storing clothing after rape. The point is to better preserve possible forensic evidence rather than trapping moisture in a way that can damage it.

The Saartjie Baartman Centre warns that an abuser may discover plans for help through browser history, emails, or messages. Deleting traces of help-seeking can therefore be an immediate safety step when a phone or computer is monitored or shared.

The NACOSA guidelines describe psychological first aid as practical, calm, survivor-centred support in the acute stage of trauma. It includes helping the survivor feel safe, explaining procedures, identifying immediate needs, connecting them to support people and services, and avoiding overwhelming them with too much information at once.

The NACOSA guidelines warn that repeated retelling and long unattended waits can deepen secondary victimisation. Good services should minimise the number of people a survivor is exposed to, reduce unnecessary retelling, and make sure the survivor is treated promptly and compassionately.

The NACOSA guidance says services should directly ask disabled survivors what support they need, make communication accessible, avoid speaking through carers where possible, and use interpreters or other aids appropriately. It also says staff should ask transgender survivors how they want to be addressed and should respond in ways that protect dignity and access.

The Tshwaranang HIV-after-rape booklet explains that a health worker may sometimes give only three days of PEP first if immediate HIV testing cannot be completed. That starter pack is not enough on its own, so the survivor must return for testing and, if HIV negative, collect the rest of the 28-day course.

The HIV-after-rape booklet says PEP is only intended to reduce HIV risk if it is taken properly for the full 28 days. Missing doses or stopping early can undermine its protective value, which is why survivors are encouraged to take it on schedule and get support with side effects instead of just discontinuing it.

TEARS Foundation offers a support locator via *134*7355# to help people quickly find nearby support options. That matters because many survivors need a low-data, phone-first way to move from information to an actual service referral.

The Tshwaranang booklet explains that post-rape care can include antibiotics for other sexually transmitted infections, emergency contraception, and medicine to help prevent tetanus and hepatitis B. This matters because HIV is not the only urgent health risk after sexual violence.

The NACOSA standards recommend comfort packs with basics such as underwear, sanitary pads, soap, a toothbrush, a facecloth, and a snack. A comfort pack is small, but it can help restore dignity and immediate physical comfort when clothing, privacy, and a sense of control have been disrupted.

Because technology can be used both to reach support and to intensify abuse. UNFPA argues that effective response needs digital literacy, safer product design, accountability, and services that understand how online harm can threaten a survivor's physical safety, privacy, and livelihood.

POWA explicitly links economic dependence to the cycle of abuse. Their shelter model includes skills development because safety is harder to maintain when a survivor has no income, no transport options, and no realistic path to living independently.

Intimate partner violence refers to abuse by a current or former intimate partner that causes physical, sexual, psychological, or economic harm. It often includes controlling behaviour, intimidation, coercion, and repeated attempts to dominate a partner.

Femicide is the intentional killing of a woman or girl because she is a woman or girl. It is one of the most extreme forms of gender-based violence and is often linked to prior patterns of abuse, coercion, or gendered power and control.

Technology-facilitated abuse happens when digital tools are used to threaten, stalk, shame, monitor, blackmail, or control someone. It can include spyware, tracking, impersonation, non-consensual sharing of intimate material, cyberbullying, and hacking accounts.

Examples include sextortion, image-based abuse, doxxing, cyberbullying, online sexual harassment, cyberstalking, online grooming, hacking, hate speech, impersonation, and the use of technology to locate or monitor survivors. These are not minor digital nuisances; they can be forms of coercion and violence.

Human trafficking is the recruitment, transport, transfer, harbouring, or receipt of a person through coercion, deception, force, abuse of vulnerability, or similar means for the purpose of exploitation. It is a crime that can affect people of any gender, age, or background.

TEARS describes technology-facilitated GBV as abuse, harassment, control, or exploitation carried out through digital tools. In practice this can include stalking, impersonation, doxxing, non-consensual intimate-image sharing, electronic surveillance, blackmail, and AI-generated sexual humiliation.

Rape Crisis uses the F.O.U.R. framework to describe stalking patterns as Fixed, Obsessive, Unwanted, and Repetitive. The framework helps show that stalking is usually not one isolated interaction, but a pattern of escalating entitlement, intrusion, and control.

TEARS Foundation defines reproductive coercion as interference with a partner's reproductive choices, such as forcing pregnancy or undermining their ability to control contraception. It is useful to name because it helps survivors recognise abuse that may not initially look like violence in the narrow sense.

TEARS Foundation describes victim-blaming as holding the survivor responsible for the abuse while minimising or ignoring the perpetrator's role. It is harmful because it deepens shame, discourages disclosure, and shifts responsibility away from the person who chose to commit the violence.

Local centres such as Saartjie Baartman stress that leaving abuse can be dangerous and often requires planning. Guidance around safety planning, preparing key items, and protecting digital privacy helps survivors reduce risk during one of the most vulnerable points in the abuse cycle.

Survivor guidance from Rape Crisis stresses that clothing and other physical evidence can help document what happened if a survivor later chooses to pursue a case. Preserving evidence is not about proving worthiness for care; it is about keeping options open while the survivor regains control.

Rape Crisis centres belief as a direct answer to rape culture and victim-blaming. Hearing 'we believe you' matters because many survivors arrive carrying doubt, shame, and social blame, and trustworthy support begins by locating responsibility with the perpetrator rather than the survivor.

Rape Crisis support guidance centres three core actions: listen, believe, and let the survivor say what they need. Support works best when it is survivor-led rather than driven by the helper's panic, assumptions, or need to take control.

Rape Crisis support guidance suggests avoiding interruption, judgment, and the urge to take over the survivor's decisions. A supportive response is not about forcing a plan; it is about helping the survivor regain agency and control.

Warning signs can include monitoring movements, demanding passwords, isolating someone from friends or work, accusing them constantly, humiliating them, threatening harm, damaging property, forcing sex, or using digital tools to track and control them. Abuse is not limited to physical assault; it can also be psychological, economic, sexual, and technology-enabled.

UNODC says traffickers target people in difficult or marginalised circumstances, including undocumented migrants, people desperate for work, children from extremely poor households, and people with little protection or support. Vulnerability, not weakness, is what traffickers exploit.

UNODC lists sexual exploitation, forced labour, forced criminal activity, forced marriage, begging, organ removal, and other exploitative practices. This is useful in GBV work because trafficking can overlap with sexual violence, coercive control, and abuse inside homes or workplaces.

UNODC says traffickers use technology across the whole chain, including recruitment through social media, fake job ads, deception, and profit movement. This matters because a seemingly ordinary online message, advert, or romance approach can become part of exploitation.

Government and global frameworks both connect economic empowerment to lower vulnerability and stronger options for leaving abuse. Financial dependence can trap survivors in dangerous situations, so economic support is part of prevention and recovery, not a separate issue.

TEARS explains that online abuse often blurs into physical-world danger, fear, and isolation. Technology can carry abuse into a survivor's home, work, school, and relationships, which is why digital safety and physical safety cannot be treated as separate issues.

Rape Crisis says stalking is often misread as affection or someone who simply cares too much, but it is actually about power, entitlement, and control. When contact is unwanted and repeated, it is a violation of boundaries rather than a sign of love.

Rape Crisis explains that stalking can function as grooming, intimidation, retaliation, or ongoing coercion in the context of sexual violence. It reinforces the message that a survivor's boundaries do not matter and can create a climate where silence feels safer than resistance.

Rape Crisis places these behaviours in the middle of the rape culture pyramid to show they are not harmless misunderstandings. They are real violations of autonomy and dignity and often function as warning signs inside broader patterns of coercion and abuse.

Rape Crisis' counselling writing presents healing as something made up of many small moments of truth, vulnerability, and courage rather than a single endpoint. This framing helps counter the pressure survivors may feel to recover quickly or in a neat, linear way.

Domestic violence includes abuse within a domestic relationship and is broader than physical assault alone. South Africa's amended law recognises forms such as coercive behaviour, controlling behaviour, economic abuse, sexual harassment, spiritual abuse, elder abuse, and exposing a child to domestic violence.

Sexual violence includes unwanted or forced sexual acts, attempted rape, rape, sexual assault, coercion, forced exposure to sexual acts, and other sexual violations without consent. In South Africa, sexual offences law is meant to protect women, children, men, and persons with mental disabilities from a wide range of sexual crimes.

Economic abuse happens when someone uses money or resources to control, punish, or isolate another person. This can include withholding earnings, restricting access to essentials, taking a person's money, or preventing them from working, studying, or meeting household needs.

Coercive behaviour forces a person to do something or stop doing something they are lawfully entitled to do. Controlling behaviour makes a person dependent on the abuser, for example by isolating them from support, regulating their movements, or monitoring everyday life.

Yes. South African sexual offences law recognises that anyone, regardless of gender or age, can be a victim of rape or sexual crimes. The law also requires justice officials to handle reported cases without discrimination.

The National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide is South Africa's long-term framework for tackling GBVF. It focuses on accountability, prevention, justice, response, economic empowerment, and research through coordinated action across sectors.

UNFPA's Essential Services Package describes core services that should be available across health, social services, police, and justice sectors, along with coordination standards. The idea is that survivors should not receive fragmented help depending only on which door they enter first.

UNFPA's essential-services guidance highlights that quality response depends not only on having services, but also on coordinating them. Survivors can be lost between institutions when police, health, social workers, and justice actors do not know how to connect care safely and efficiently.

Trafficking is defined by exploitation, while migrant smuggling is defined by facilitating illegal border crossing and does not necessarily include exploitation. The two can overlap in real life, but they are not the same offence and should not be treated as interchangeable.

Rape Crisis frames consent as something rooted in mutual respect rather than assumption, pressure, or silence. Building a culture of consent means normalising asking, listening, and respecting a person's response instead of relying on myths or entitlement.

Rape Crisis court guidance explains the roles of people such as the magistrate, prosecutor, defence lawyer, accused person, witnesses, court orderly, and other court staff. Understanding who does what can make the court process feel less bewildering and less intimidating.

The report defines consent as a voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity and stresses that it is an ongoing process that can be withdrawn at any time. It also says consent should never be assumed, regardless of relationship status or prior sexual activity.

The report's glossary describes economic abuse as unreasonable deprivation of economic or financial resources a complainant is entitled to or needs, as well as unreasonable disposal of household effects or property in which the complainant has an interest.

The report found that 84.8% of men were aware that South Africa has laws about violence against women, and 84.0% were aware that a husband forcing his wife to have sex against her will is committing a criminal act. At the same time, the report also found strong pockets of scepticism and victim-blaming beliefs.

Yes. The Sexual Offences Act summary explains that rape is one of the offences for which criminal prosecution can be instituted at any time, even after 20 years. This matters because delayed reporting does not automatically remove the possibility of criminal prosecution.

According to End GBVF, 100-Day Challenges are short, focused initiatives where local teams work intensively for 100 days on a defined GBVF problem. They matter because they turn broad national strategy into practical, place-based action in courts, municipalities, colleges, and other local settings.

The sexual offences prosecution directives say a prosecutor should only enrol a case if there is a prima facie case and evidence linking the suspect to the crime. In practical terms, this means there must be enough initial evidence on paper for the case to properly go before a court.

South Africa has multiple national support lines for counselling, reporting, shelters, and emergency help. Strong starting points include the GBV Command Centre, the national GBV helpline, SAPS emergency services, Childline, and the National Shelter Movement.

Common national options include the GBV Command Centre on 0800 428 428, the GBV helpline on 0800 150 150, SAPS emergency on 10111, Childline, Lifeline, and the National Shelter Movement helpline. Different services may help with counselling, reporting, shelter placement, child protection, or legal referral.

A Thuthuzela Care Centre is a one-stop facility based at hospitals or clinics that supports survivors of sexual and gender-based violence. The model is survivor-centred and aims to reduce secondary trauma while linking medical, psychosocial, and justice processes more effectively.

Survivors have rights to dignity, privacy, information, and treatment. South African justice information says reporting should happen in a more private and respectful setting, and survivors should receive information about medical procedures and available support.

A victim of domestic violence can apply for a protection order, and children who are direct or indirect victims can also be protected. In some cases a functionary or another person with a material interest in the victim's wellbeing may apply on the victim's behalf.

No. South Africa's amended domestic violence guidance says a pattern of abuse is no longer required before applying. Early reporting of the first act of domestic violence is encouraged so that intervention can happen sooner.

You should generally approach the court nearest to where you live, work, or do business. If violence forced you to leave home, you may approach the court nearest to your temporary residence, even if you are only staying there briefly.

Yes. Guidance from survivor-support organisations and justice resources states that there is no court fee to apply for a protection order. A lawyer is not required just to start the process.

Yes, in some situations. South African domestic violence guidance allows certain other people, including functionaries or people with a material interest in the victim's wellbeing, to apply on behalf of the victim, especially where the victim is a child or unable to give consent.

South African domestic violence guidance allows for applications to be lodged electronically and also provides for urgent applications outside ordinary court times where immediate harm is feared. In practice, availability may vary by court, so survivors often still need local guidance and support.

The clerk of the court must provide information about rights and remedies, explain the notice in a language the applicant understands, and help with the form if the applicant cannot read, write, or complete it alone. The clerk should also submit the application and supporting affidavits to the court.

Police must explain rights and available remedies in a language the victim understands, and in some circumstances they may arrest the abuser without a warrant. They should also help the victim access medical care, shelters, and public health services where needed.

If an abuser violates the terms of the order, the breach should be reported to the police immediately. Protection orders are issued with enforcement consequences, and a breach can lead to criminal action or arrest depending on the circumstances.

A victim who shares a residence with the abuser may ask for a Domestic Violence Safety Monitoring Notice. This can require police to check in privately or physically to help monitor the victim's safety while the risk remains active.

TEARS Foundation provides 24/7 crisis intervention, advocacy, counselling access, and prevention education for people affected by domestic violence, sexual assault, and child sexual abuse. It also helps survivors connect to safe accommodation, legal guidance, and other support services.

TEARS says it can help survivors understand the legal process, prepare statements, fill in forms, and connect to safe accommodation, legal aid, and social workers. Its approach is designed to make an intimidating process more survivable and easier to navigate.

POWA provides free support to survivors including counselling, legal support, and emergency shelter for women and their children. Its work also includes outreach, advocacy, and partnerships with police, social development, and other local actors.

Digital abuse can form part of domestic violence and may require legal and platform-based action. South African domestic violence guidance says courts can order communication service providers to help identify the origin of abusive content and remove or disable access to it.

Children can be direct or indirect victims of domestic violence, and the law allows for their protection. Justice guidance also says abused children may receive intermediary support in proceedings, and courts can involve social workers when a child is in need of care and protection.

South African help directories include dedicated referral routes for persons living with disabilities, and justice guidance imposes reporting duties where domestic violence affects a person with a disability. This matters because disability can increase vulnerability while also making access to services harder.

Privacy and dignity reduce the risk of further harm, shame, exposure, and retraumatisation. Both survivor-rights guidance and justice resources stress that survivors should be treated respectfully and should not be forced into unsafe or humiliating disclosure processes.

LvA uses an integrated model that combines legal services with therapy and counselling so that survivors are supported emotionally as well as procedurally. Its stated goal is to help victims of gender-based violence access a justice system that is more responsive and effective.

Survivors often need much more than one isolated service. Integrated support matters because people may need emotional healing, practical case support, community referrals, and accountability from police or prosecutors at the same time, not in disconnected stages.

No. Sonke says it does not provide counselling or direct support services to individuals. Instead, it points people to external resources and helplines and also operates a whistleblower hotline for anonymous reporting of incidents.

Sonke's hotline is intended for anonymous and safer reporting of incidents such as sexual harassment, bullying, abuse, fraud, corruption, or bribery. It is useful where someone wants to report misconduct but is not looking for direct counselling from Sonke itself.

A one-stop centre is a place where survivors can access multiple forms of support in one location instead of being referred from one office to another. Services may include crisis response, shelter, counselling, legal support, rights education, and economic empowerment.

Children affected by abuse can need dedicated child protection support, not just adult-focused GBV services. Childline South Africa offers a free 24/7 helpline, and justice guidance also recognises that children may be direct or indirect victims who need reporting, referral, and protection.

Children and adolescents often need different reporting channels, counselling approaches, and safeguarding processes than adults. A directory that only lists general services can miss urgent child-protection needs, so child-specific pathways improve real usability.

The State of the Nation GBV page points to legal reform, survivor support investments, GBV desks at police stations in hotspots, and ongoing support for Thuthuzela and Khuseleka centres. It also highlights evidence kits, psychological and social services, and funding aimed at implementation of the national plan.

Government describes TCCs as one-stop facilities that can provide medical examination, shower facilities, a police statement process, counselling support, STI and HIV follow-up care, transport, arrangements for a place of safety, specialist prosecutor consultations, and court preparation support.

Rape Crisis advises getting to a place of safety and seeking medical help as soon as possible. Its survivor guidance also emphasises the importance of preserving forensic evidence if the survivor may want to report later, while making clear that medical care should not depend on an immediate decision to lay a charge.

Rape Crisis materials emphasise that survivors should be able to report in a more private and respectful setting, ask for assistance in a language they understand, and receive support through the reporting process. Their guidance also stresses fair treatment, dignity, and access to medical and legal follow-up.

Rape Crisis supports survivors not only emotionally but also through advocacy around reporting, court support, and improvements to the justice system. Its work recognises that the legal process itself can be traumatic and that survivors often need accompaniment and explanation, not just formal rights on paper.

Rape Crisis argues that specialised sexual offences courts can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the justice system and help reduce the massive drop-off between reporting and conviction. The goal is not only faster processing, but also a system that works better for survivors.

Rape Crisis describes TCCs as part of a multidisciplinary response where medical, psychosocial, police, and court-related support can connect around the survivor. This matters because NGOs often help make those spaces more trauma-informed and more navigable for people in crisis.

POWA says its shelters are designed to provide a safe and therapeutic environment, but also practical support such as counselling, legal advice, skills development, job referrals, transport, and escorting to courts, clinics, hospitals, police stations, and other services. That kind of wraparound support is often what makes escape sustainable.

The Centre describes the Khuseleka model as a multi-sector approach developed with government departments and institutions to uphold victim rights. In practical terms, it reflects the idea that survivor support works better when different sectors coordinate around the person rather than leaving them to assemble care themselves.

MOSAIC's guidance focuses on practical access to justice: helping survivors understand the process, prepare documents, attend court, and connect legal steps to safety planning and emotional support. This kind of accompaniment matters because many survivors face the court process while still in crisis.

Local NGOs often explain the real service journey more concretely than broad policy documents do. They show what survivors actually need on the ground: transport, counselling, court accompaniment, shelter, child support, follow-up care, and patient guidance through complex systems.

Yes. Rape Crisis guidance makes clear that survivors should seek medical care as soon as possible even if they are not ready to decide about laying a criminal charge. Treatment and evidence preservation may still be important while the survivor decides what they want to do next.

The J88 is the standard medico-legal medical examination form used in assault and rape cases in South Africa. It records findings from the medical examination and can later be used as evidence in court.

Rape Crisis survivor guidance notes that the first person a survivor tells about the rape may later be relevant as a witness in court. That is why it can matter to keep that person's details where possible if the survivor thinks they may report later.

TEARS encourages survivors to document safely by preserving screenshots, dates, message histories, and URLs where possible. Keeping a secure record can help show the pattern of harassment and support later safety, platform, or legal action.

According to TEARS, cyber-abuse may be addressed through South African protection laws such as the Domestic Violence Act and the Protection from Harassment Act. These routes can be used to try to stop contact, online posting, or other abusive digital behaviour.

Saartjie Baartman safety guidance treats the time after leaving as a period that still requires planning and protection. Abuse does not always end at separation, so survivors may still need legal steps, careful communication, and ongoing support after they leave.

Saartjie Baartman's guidance points to practical next steps such as protection orders, digital safety, and consulting qualified support professionals before making major moves that could affect safety. Leaving is often only one stage in a broader safety process.

Rape Crisis says survivors of sexual violence have the right to free medical care, counselling, and legal assistance. It also highlights that specialised facilities such as Thuthuzela Care Centres can provide these services together in one place to support a more survivor-sensitive journey to recovery.

No. Rape Crisis makes clear that opening a criminal case is not a prerequisite for accessing specialist health services. Survivors can still receive free medical assistance, counselling, and related care even if they are not ready to report to the police.

Rape Crisis highlights time-sensitive care such as HIV prevention medicines known as PEP and emergency contraception. Its survivor-rights material stresses that these options matter most when a survivor gets to a medical facility as soon as possible, ideally within 72 hours.

Rape Crisis says emotional and mental recovery should be treated as part of a survivor's overall health, not as an optional extra. Shock, sleep problems, anxiety, and depression can all follow rape, so counselling and mental-health support are part of holistic recovery.

Rape Crisis' access-to-justice guidance notes that police stations, Thuthuzela Care Centres, and other forensic units are treated as essential services during major disruptions. The broader point is that access to urgent reporting and forensic care should not disappear when the rest of society is under strain.

Rape Crisis notes that even when many criminal matters are postponed during a crisis period, courts can remain open for protection orders. This matters because immediate safety needs do not wait for the rest of the justice system to return to normal.

Rape Crisis explicitly says there is no single right time for counselling. Some survivors come within days and others years later, and support can still be valuable whenever the person feels ready to begin working on their recovery.

Rape Crisis materials describe post-rape care as more than one appointment or one decision. The core package includes urgent medical care, forensic examination where relevant, psycho-social support, referral for longer-term counselling, and support around reporting choices.

Rape Crisis stresses that recovery is not only about collecting DNA or strengthening prosecution. Survivors also need treatment for health risks, emotional support, and a path back toward positive ownership of their bodies and overall wellbeing.

Rape Crisis court-support material describes pre-trial consultation as a process of preparing a survivor for what will happen in court, clarifying their role, and helping them get practical and emotional support before the trial begins. The aim is to reduce surprise, confusion, and retraumatisation.

Rape Crisis describes the trial process as capable of triggering trauma, fear, loss, and helplessness. Court support matters because survivors often need someone to explain the process, prepare them for what to expect, and help reduce shock and secondary trauma.

Rape Crisis trial guidance explains that the court process can include a victim impact statement at sentencing. This matters because it gives the survivor's harm and experience a clearer place in the process instead of reducing the case only to technical facts.

The Rape Crisis rights and post-rape care materials treat physical health, sexual and reproductive health, and emotional recovery as interconnected. Asking about both at once helps prevent a narrow response that addresses only evidence or only immediate physical injury while leaving other urgent needs unmet.

Among ever-partnered women who had experienced physical or sexual IPV and answered the injury question, 41.6% said they had been injured as a result. Of those injured, 38.8% said it happened once, 35.6% said two to five times, and 25.7% said more than five times.

Among women who reported injuries from IPV, more than half said they did not require health care, but a substantial minority did. The study found 23.3% needed health care once, 15.1% needed it two to five times, and 5.8% reported needing it more than five times, whether or not they received it.

Among women who sought assistance because of IPV, the most commonly used services were police (30.7%), hospitals or health centres (21.6%), and courts (10.8%). The study also found much lower use of shelters, women's organisations, local leaders, and legal advice.

The NACOSA standards say survivors should have access to a private, lockable counselling room on a 24-hour basis, a reassuring and disability-accessible environment, and an up-to-date referral list covering shelters, counselling, disability services, LGBTI survivors, refugees, and migrants. The aim is to make reporting safer and more usable in practice.

Yes. The NACOSA guidelines and Sexual Offences Act materials both make clear that health services must be provided regardless of whether a survivor has opened a criminal case. Medical care, HIV prevention, pregnancy prevention, forensic examination, and counselling should not depend on being ready to report first.

No. The HIV-after-rape booklet and Sexual Offences Act summary both say a survivor does not have to report to police before getting PEP. The point of PEP is urgent health protection, so access should not be delayed by reporting decisions.

Yes. South African sexual offences guidance says a survivor, an interested person, or an investigating officer can apply to have an alleged offender tested for HIV, as long as the application is made within 90 days and the case involves possible exposure to body fluids. Survivors are still advised to start and continue PEP without waiting for that result.

Yes. The Sexual Offences Act summary notes that a court may order compensation for financial losses such as medical expenses, counselling costs, replacement of destroyed property, alternative accommodation, and wages lost while attending court. That does not erase the harm, but it can matter for practical recovery.

The RAPSSA study summarises the official duties of investigating officers as taking statements in private, recording contact details, keeping the complainant updated, visiting the crime scene, collecting and preserving forensic evidence, contacting witnesses, tracing suspects, and helping protect the complainant from further victimisation and secondary trauma.

Yes. The official rape-case directives summarised in the RAPSSA report say investigating officers should obtain both preliminary and in-depth statements in private. Privacy matters because survivors are more likely to speak freely and with less secondary trauma when they are not exposed to public scrutiny.

No. The RAPSSA summary of police directives says the in-depth statement should be taken once the complainant has recuperated and is fit to give a good statement. That principle recognises that immediate trauma can affect memory, concentration, and a survivor's ability to cope with intensive questioning.

Yes. The RAPSSA report notes that investigating officers are expected to capture the complainant's and next of kin's contact details and keep the complainant informed about the progress of the investigation. Updates are important because silence from the system can itself become another barrier to staying engaged.

Yes, in many cases. The Health Directives summarised in RAPSSA say that children over 12, and younger children with enough maturity to understand the benefits and risks, can legally consent to HIV testing. That can be important when urgent care cannot wait for another adult to act.

The NACOSA standards say the first dose of PEP should be provided within two hours of a survivor reporting at a station or health facility. The point is not to create a harsh deadline for survivors, but to reduce avoidable service delays once they have actually reached help.

The HSRC report explains that GBV is heavily under-reported and that police data do not capture the full scale of violence. Many survivors never report to authorities, and official case data can miss emotional abuse, coercive control, barriers to disclosure, and other hidden forms of violence.

No single institution can meet all survivor needs. Survivors may need emergency response, medical care, psychosocial support, shelter, legal help, child protection, and longer-term recovery support, which is why coordinated pathways across health, justice, social services, and civil society matter so much.

UNFPA emphasises safety, confidentiality, non-discrimination, and self-determination as core survivor-centred principles. These matter because a service can exist on paper and still fail survivors if it is unsafe, disrespectful, or takes control away from the person seeking help.

No. UNODC explains that consent is irrelevant where force, deception, coercion, or abuse of vulnerability has been used. For children, consent is irrelevant regardless of whether those means can be shown.

Rape Crisis uses attrition to describe the filtering process by which rape cases drop out of the criminal justice system between reporting and final outcome. Their justice article shows that many cases never reach trial, which helps explain why reporting alone does not guarantee justice.

Rape Crisis points to attrition at several stages, including reporting, police investigation, prosecution decisions, and trial preparation. Their justice analysis highlights weak investigation, untraceable suspects, insufficient evidence, survivor disengagement, and other systemic failures as reasons cases fall away.

The Sexual Offences Act summary explains that an accused person may test HIV negative while still being in the HIV window period. That means a survivor should not stop PEP or assume there was no risk just because the later test result looks reassuring.

The RAPSSA report says the highest attrition often occurs during the police investigation phase, with many reported cases never reaching trial. This is one reason survivors and support organisations often focus so strongly on investigation quality, suspect tracing, and proper evidence collection.

Yes. RAPSSA warns that rape myths and misogynistic stereotypes can affect police, prosecutors, and judicial officers, shaping judgments about which cases seem believable or worth pursuing. That is one reason some cases that do not fit the stereotype of a 'real rape' may be screened out or handled badly.

The RAPSSA report found serious problems with court transcripts and some poor interpretation in rape cases. These failures matter because they can distort what a complainant, witness, or accused person actually said, making it easier for courts to be misled and harder for appeals or review to work fairly.

RAPSSA found that pressure to finalise cases and maintain conviction targets can discourage the time-consuming work needed for difficult rape prosecutions. In practice, this can create incentives to rush, withdraw, or under-prepare cases that would need more careful investigation or expert support.

No. The RAPSSA report describes attrition as a product of multiple system failures and decision points, including weak investigation, difficulties identifying suspects, poor evidence collection, survivor disengagement, and prosecutorial screening. A case falling out of the system does not by itself prove the complaint was false.

WHO highlights risk factors across individual, family, community, and social levels, including child maltreatment, witnessing family violence, harmful alcohol use, gender norms that privilege men, low gender equality, and male controlling behaviour. The HSRC report similarly points to childhood trauma, mental health strain, harmful norms, food insecurity, and substance use as overlapping drivers.

WHO treats violence against women as both a human rights issue and a major public health problem. Health services matter because they can treat injuries, respond to sexual and reproductive health consequences, support mental health, and serve as a gateway to referrals for legal and social support.

UN Women recommends thinking about safe communication, sharing concerns with a trusted person, keeping a charged phone nearby, and planning practical ways to leave if danger escalates. Safety planning needs to be realistic and survivor-led, because the person experiencing abuse usually understands the risk best.

They can stay in touch, agree on safe ways to communicate, believe the survivor, protect confidentiality, and help with practical support if the survivor wants it. Support should be consent-based wherever possible, because acting without the survivor's agreement can sometimes increase risk.

Both global and South African evidence link childhood abuse, witnessing violence at home, and other early trauma to later victimisation or perpetration risk. That is why long-term prevention has to include children, families, trauma healing, and early intervention, not only crisis response after violence has already occurred.

WHO's RESPECT framework is a prevention framework built around relationship skills, women's empowerment, services, poverty reduction, safer environments, prevention of child and adolescent abuse, and transformed gender norms. It is useful because it shows that prevention works best when it tackles violence across multiple levels, not only through law enforcement.

A large part of GBV prevention is about changing the attitudes, behaviours, and social norms that make abuse easier to excuse or ignore. Organisations such as LvA and Sonke both emphasise community education, mobilisation, and work with men and boys because violence is not only an individual problem but also a social one.

South African and international organisations repeatedly link GBV to structural drivers such as poverty, exclusion, unequal power, and harmful gender norms. This means prevention cannot rely only on punishment after violence happens; it also needs social and economic change.

Most survivors do not need only one service. The strongest South African and international sources all point to layered needs: safety, health, justice, psychosocial care, and practical support. A directory becomes more useful when it helps people move through that pathway instead of showing disconnected listings.

Rape Crisis explains that myths about clothing, alcohol, being out at night, or changing your mind can deepen stigma and keep survivors silent. These myths do not just distort understanding; they actively stand in the way of safety, support, and reporting.

Rape Crisis argues that working with teenagers in schools can help challenge harmful norms before they become deeply entrenched. Teaching consent, rights, and respect early makes it more likely that young people will challenge rape culture among their peers and communities.

Rape Crisis links silence to the social cost survivors fear when they expect to be blamed, doubted, or shamed for what happened. This means stigma is not just hurtful language; it can directly block disclosure, support-seeking, and access to justice.

The local NGO material shows that survivors often need understanding and navigation at the same time. Good Q&A content should therefore answer the question itself and also point toward the next practical step, whether that is counselling, a protection order, a clinic, a shelter, or safer digital behaviour.

Rape Crisis argues that these behaviours matter because they normalise entitlement, undermine survivor credibility, and create an environment where more serious violations are easier to excuse. Prevention therefore has to begin before criminal acts, at the level of everyday culture.

Among ever-partnered women, 20.3% reported being insulted or deliberately made to feel bad about themselves, 12.6% reported being deliberately scared or intimidated, 12.6% were belittled or humiliated in front of others, and 11.1% reported verbal threats to hurt them or someone they cared about.

Women were asked about partners withholding earnings, prohibiting them from working or earning money, and taking their earnings against their will. The study found 8.0% reported withheld earnings, 6.6% reported being prohibited from working, and 2.4% reported their earnings being taken against their will.

The most commonly reported controlling behaviours were partners getting angry if the woman spoke with another man (26.5%) and insisting on knowing where she was at all times (26.2%). Other common experiences included suspicion of infidelity, being ignored or treated indifferently, and being kept from friends.

Yes. The controlling-behaviour list in the study includes a partner refusing to use a condom and intentionally removing, sabotaging, or tearing a condom before or during sex without consent. This matters because the report treats reproductive coercion and sexual control as part of psychological abuse patterns.

For women reporting non-partner physical violence, family members were the most frequently identified perpetrators at 31.1%, followed by friends or acquaintances at 11.7%. Strangers were much less commonly reported at 1.8%, which is important for designing prevention and disclosure messaging.

The report found relatively low but still significant reported violence during lockdown, with perpetrators mostly being partners or ex-partners. Among women, 1.8% reported physical violence, 0.9% sexual violence, and 2.7% emotional abuse by a partner or ex-partner during the lockdown period.

The study found high agreement with traditional gender roles among both women and men, including the view that a woman's most important role is to care for the home and cook for the family. It also found notable support for ideas such as men needing sex more than women and, among a minority, tolerance for violence or punishment within relationships.

The report found that 9.9% of ever-partnered men agreed that when a woman is raped, she is usually to blame, 11.9% agreed that if a woman doesn't physically fight back it is not rape, and 22.5% agreed that a woman cannot refuse sex with her husband. These findings show that harmful rape myths and sexual entitlement beliefs remain a live prevention issue.

TEARS Foundation describes trauma bonding as a strong emotional attachment to an abuser that can develop through cycles of violence mixed with affection or relief. Naming it can help explain why leaving, reporting, or cutting off contact is often more complicated than outsiders assume.

Rape Crisis describes the rape culture pyramid as a way of showing how sexual violence is sustained through connected layers of attitudes, behaviours, and systems. It starts with normalised sexism and survivor-doubting at the base and helps explain how those everyday patterns create conditions where more extreme violations can thrive.

TEARS Foundation describes rape trauma syndrome as the range of physical, emotional, and psychological responses survivors may experience after sexual assault, including shock, fear, denial, and distress. Naming it can help survivors recognise that intense reactions after rape are common and do not mean they are failing to cope.

TEARS Foundation defines dissociation as a state of disconnection from emotions, thoughts, or reality that can be triggered by overwhelming trauma. For survivors, this can help explain why they may feel numb, detached, unreal, or unable to remember events in a straightforward way.

Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust lists counselling support in English, isiXhosa, and Afrikaans, as well as WhatsApp counselling. It also provides in-person support through offices in Observatory, Athlone, and Khayelitsha.

The Saartjie Baartman Centre describes itself as South Africa's first one-stop centre for abused women and children. Its model brings multiple organisations together on-site so survivors can access integrated support instead of having to navigate fragmented systems alone.

No. Rape Crisis says counselling does not require a survivor to give a full account of the rape in order to benefit. Counselling can focus on coping, triggers, self-experience, and recovery afterwards rather than forcing disclosure before the survivor is ready.

Rape Crisis notes that not being believed can feel like a profound betrayal and may stop a survivor from seeking more help. Belief is not a small emotional gesture; it can shape whether someone feels safe enough to keep moving toward support and recovery.

The Tshwaranang booklet explains that one HIV test is usually done when the survivor first seeks care, followed by tests around 6 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months after the rape. This schedule matters because HIV has a window period, so a single early negative result is not the whole story.

TEARS Foundation defines validation as recognising and affirming a survivor's emotions and experiences. It matters because support becomes safer and more useful when a survivor is met with belief, recognition, and respect instead of interrogation or doubt.

UNFPA describes technology-facilitated GBV as part of a continuum between online and offline abuse. Digital harassment, stalking, doxxing, sextortion, impersonation, and location tracking can escalate fear, silence survivors, and sometimes lead into severe offline violence.

Rape Crisis describes recovery as non-linear and often unfolding through phases such as acute shock, outward adjustment, integration, and renewal. The value of this framework is that it helps survivors and supporters understand that different emotional responses at different times can all be part of recovery.

Rape Crisis recovery guidance suggests that survivors may move in and out of different emotional states over time rather than improving in a neat sequence. This matters because people often judge themselves harshly for feeling worse again later, even though that can be part of healing.

Rape Crisis explains that healing from trauma can leave a person feeling raw after a session, especially when difficult emotions and memories are being worked through. Feeling worse for a moment does not necessarily mean counselling is failing; it can mean real processing is happening.

Rape Crisis describes healing support as being less about having all the answers and more about listening with empathy, presence, and respect. Holding space means helping a survivor feel seen, believed, and not alone while they rebuild dignity, trust, and a sense of self.

Yes. Rape Crisis says it is normal not to feel better immediately and that healing can involve difficult emotional work before relief becomes clearer. Survivors are encouraged to be patient with themselves and recognise that seeking help is already a significant step.

No. Rape Crisis explicitly frames seeking counselling as a strength rather than a weakness. Asking for support can be one of the clearest signs that a survivor is trying to protect their wellbeing and rebuild their life on their own terms.

Rape Crisis says counselling is not about erasing memory. It can help change how a survivor feels when they think about the rape or when something triggers the memory, making life more manageable even if the event is never forgotten.

Rape Crisis challenges the myth that sexual violence forever reduces a person to damage and loss. That myth is harmful because it narrows a survivor's identity and obscures their capacity for healing, agency, connection, and future growth.