RAPE and other forms of sexual violence remain one of the biggest dangers in South Africa – especially for women and children.

Two days before South Africa kicked off its annual 16 Days of Activism campaign, Police Minister Bheki Cele expressed concern over the country’s soaring levels of gender-based violence (GBV). This, as he presented the quarterly crime statistics (July 1 to September 30, 2022).

When compared to last year’s stats, sexual offences, alone, increased by 10.8 percent. Mpumalanga was the only province that recorded a decrease in rape cases, and on average, 115 people were raped every day in the country during that period.

During that same time frame, Cele said 13 000 women were assaulted, while 558 children and 989 women were killed.

It has therefore become incredibly important for people to know what to do should they become a victim of sexual violence.

Caxton Local Media has compiled a list of steps, taken from several non-profit organisations (NPO), on what a victim/survivor should take in an effort to reclaim their lives. While this might all seem daunting and inconvenient, this information could empower you or a loved one in the future.

Seek medical attention

This must be done within 72 hours (three days) to ensure that the medication is effective, urged the Jes Foord Foundation (JFF), a Kloof-based NPO launched by a survivor, on its website.

Following the atrocious physical and mental trauma that a survivor had to endure, they should not have to suffer any further complications for which there is free assistance available.

Survivors will be given various medications, known as Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEPs) – this includes the morning-after pill and anti-retrovirals (ARVs) – to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections or diseases (STI/STD).

If these medications are not offered to you, request them. It is within your right.

Treatment can be sought at your nearest clinic, hospital emergency room or one of the 55 Thuthuzela Care Centres (TCC) in the country. According to the South African government’s official website, these centres are ‘one-stop facilities that have been introduced as a critical part of South Africa’s anti-rape strategy’.

Their aim is to reduce secondary victimisation and to assist survivors with building a case for successful prosecution.

You can locate your nearest centre here.

The TCC staff can assist you with opening a case – either immediately or at a later stage.

However, you will not be denied treatment should you decide not to open a case, assured Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust (RCCT), another NPO that provides support to survivors nationwide.

The organisation urges survivors to allow doctors or medical staff to conduct a rape kit (collecting forensic evidence) so that the option is there should you change your mind at a later stage.

Ensure that the rape kit is sealed with a bar code following the collection process, warns the JFF, otherwise it cannot be used as evidence.

There is no statute of limitations in South Africa when it comes to rape. So you will be able to open a case even 30 years after the incident. 

In the effect that you do fall pregnant following a sexual assault, you do have the option and the right to terminate the pregnancy. According to RCCT, district clinics will perform abortions up to 12 weeks into the pregnancy, while hospitals will do so up to 20 weeks.

Report the incident

You can open a case at your nearest police station and do not have to report to a station where the incident occurred, said the RCCT.

You have the right to request to deal with a female police officer, or to have a female police officer, family member and/or friend present when you give your statement, said the TEARS foundation, a women-led NPO that provides assistance to survivors on a national scale.

You can also request to give your statement in a private room and to make it in your home language.

Survivors are also urged to give as much information to police as possible and not to lie about facts surrounding the incident. Even if you were drunk or participated in any ‘questionable behaviour’ prior to the incident – this includes flirting or even kissing the perpetrator – as this does not justify the assault.

Consent can be withdrawn at any point, and one needs to be conscious and sober for consent to be given.

Omissions or lies can, sadly, be used against the survivor during court proceedings.

Should you remember additional information, you are allowed to make a second statement within 21 days of making the original statement, said the JFF.

TEARS also advises survivors to read their statements before signing them, and to request a copy of the statement as one is ‘entitled to [a copy] by law’.

Additional useful advice provided by the organisation was to make a note of the investigating officer’s name, the case number and the station’s phone number so that you can follow up on the progress of the case.

If you are not treated with respect and dignity while opening / attempting to open a case, you have the right to complain and report the officer(s) in question. You also have the right to complain if you feel that you are not being updated on the case or if you suspect any mismanagement of the case.

This can be done at the police station in question’s station commander, your local Community Policing Forum or the Independent Police Investigative Directorate.

According to TEARS, reporting sexual violence is the only way to prevent future assaults. “Every time we lock up a rapist, we are preventing him/her from committing another attack,” the organisation said.

However, the decision to do so always remains with the survivor, unless the survivor is a minor. As per the Harassment Act and the Children’s Act, it is mandatory for adults to report the sexual abuse of individuals 16 and younger.

Should you fear retribution or intimidation from the perpetrator, TEARS advised survivors to make police aware and to apply for a protection order under the Domestic Violence Act.

How to preserve evidence

TEARS strongly urges survivors not to bathe or wash themselves following an attack.

This was also stated by the JFF, who added that victims should not remove or change their clothing.

Your body and your clothes could contain hair, blood and/or semen that could be used as evidence should you wish to open a case.

Both organisations advise survivors not to place any evidence in a plastic bag but rather wrap it in newspaper or place it in a paper bag.

Seek trauma counselling

The final step for a survivor of sexual violence is to seek trauma counselling. This is just as an important step in healing as seeking physical treatment.

All of the organisations listed in the article provide trauma counselling, including the TCC centres – the latter even assists with long-term counselling and finding a place of safety, if necessary.

Contact TEAR via a free hotline number: *134*7355#, Jes Foord Foundation via 0861 333 449 or the Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust on 021 447 9762.

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