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

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.