Ordinary community members do extraordinary things: A safe place for sexual assault survivors
DIEPSLOOT – The South African Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag) has started a support group for survivors of sexual assault in Diepsloot informal settlement.
Survivors need support – not only to deal with their trauma but also so they can find a way to live full lives again.
According to the most recent crime statistics, 52 420 sexual offences (including over 41 000 rapes, over 7 000 sexual assaults and over 2 000 attempted sexual offences) were reported to South African police in the 2018/2019 year. Sexual violence can have a negative effect on victims for years after the crime is committed, even leading to mental health issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Nono Maseko, a trauma counsellor with the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag) for over 20 years, has decided to start a support group for sexual survivors (with a particular focus on PTSD) in the Diepsloot informal settlement.
The group will meet once a month on Saturdays from 10am to 12pm, beginning on 19 October at the Sadag container located next to the Diepsloot fire station in Ext 2 in the informal settlement.
“I wanted to start a new rape survivor group because right now [with gender-based violence in South Africa receiving media and society’s attention] there are so many talks about rape on TV,” Maseko told the Fourways Review. “Hearing this is triggering for survivors, whether you were raped today or 50 years ago. These women need support because they probably think that they are alone in that experience.
“When you are raped, no matter when it happened, you will struggle afterwards, with things like flashbacks and anger at what happened.”
Brown Lekekela, who single-handedly runs the Green Door Women’s Shelter in Diepsloot to help women and children in the township affected by gender-based violence, is not involved with organising the support group but encourages residents affected by sexual crimes to join the group.
“It’s so important for survivors to have this kind of group,” he said. “While some victims might have been for trauma counselling or to a psychologist once after their assault, that is not enough – they need support and resources to move on with their lives.”
Beyond giving survivors the help and tools they need to heal, both Maseko and Lekekela also hope that the support group will be a springboard for victims to become empowered and create their own projects to benefit themselves and the community.
Maseko hopes to get business owners to come through and teach participants a little about the world of entrepreneurship to encourage the women to become economically independent.
“I want them to see that there is life after assault,” she explained.
“And maybe they’ll start their own projects, like creating organisations to help children who have to deal with violence in the home – we are not trained to help children, only adults, so these children grow up in homes thinking [violence and abuse] is normal.”
The group will meet once a month at the start and no fees will be charged for members of the public to participate.
Sadag also has a toll-free number you can call to receive counselling over the phone or to set up an appointment with a counsellor at the Diepsloot container 0800 12 13 14.
Details: Nono Maseko nonnie@anxiety.org.za; 083 649 8639.
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