Support for male and female rape victims

MatrixMen is proud to announce the establishment of a support group for female survivors of sexual abuse and rape.

MatrixMen has been running support groups for male survivors for more than a year and is now ready to open its doors to female survivors.

“It took a while and with the assistance of Alta MacMaster from the Epic Foundation, I was put in touch with Keith Russel, who heads up trauma counselling at Linden Police station. He put me in touch with Ann Biccard, a counsellor with the police who was intrigued with the concept and gladly took up the challenge,” MatrixMen founder and facilitator Martin Pelders said.

As a rape survivor himself, Pelders was surprised by the lack of support for female rape victims, given the pervasiveness of the crime in South Africa.

This encouraged him to develop an additional support group for affected females.

“Finally discovering that you aren’t alone is a great help. Getting support from other survivors makes you feel a lot more normal and shows you that what you’re going through is normal and that others struggle with the same problems,” Pelders maintained.

“We know it’s hard for survivors to come forward and ask for help, but it’s the only way to heal, and to put the horrors of what happened behind you, and move on with life.”

Pelders also observed a lack of conversation where male sexual abuse is concerned, an incident which can affect mental stability and behavioural patterns due to rape’s ability to invade a survivor’s life.

“We hope people will come to the groups. There’s a minimal charge for this – more of a pay-what-you-can-afford – but it’s normally R100 for two hours once a month. This is just to help us cover phone calls and printing costs. It certainly doesn’t cover much, but it shows commitment from the survivor.”

Biccard will facilitate the female meetings from 11 March at the Linden Police station trauma lounge from 7pm to 9pm every second Tuesday of the month.

Men’s meeting are held at Crescent Clinic in Boskruin at 7pm on the last Tuesday of every month.

Details: Martin Pelders 078 457 4911, Ann Biccard 079 495 3783.