Victim Empowerment Centre at Malelane SAPS a safe haven for many
Victims of various crimes, especially domestic violence and sexual offenses, have received assistance, counselling and even just a comfortable place to sit while giving their police statements at the Malelane Victim Empowerment Centre.
MALALANE – Officers of the local police station and volunteers were very grateful when Werner D’Hollander recently fixed the lights in the victim empowerment centre.
The centre is an essential part of the station and over the past few years it has seen two women give birth there.
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They are very grateful for each person who helps improve the centre through donations, and by extension their ability to help victims.
Volunteer Amanda de Swardt, known for her purple hairdo and outfits, stated that their aim is to empower people with knowledge about their rights in case they become a victim of rape or sexual abuse.
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They also give emotional and practical support, such as assisting victims in reporting the crime or motivating them to do so. They help with support groups to give victims aid in working through the trauma following rape or sexual abuse.
According to De Swardt, who has been a volunteer at the victim empowerment programme for the past seven years, they are trained by professionals such as psychologists or socials workers who are experts in trauma management and counselling.
They also offer debriefing and helping to identify post-traumatic stress. If the traumatised victims require professional counselling, they are referred to the appropriate service providers in the community.
This is only done with their consent and members of SAPS are only allowed to give the victim’s details to a service provider or volunteer if the victim consents to it.
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The centre and volunteers not only provide the victims, ranging from young children to old women, with a shoulder to cry on and a sympathetic ear, but also provides them with a safe place to report the crime or deal with the shock of the incident for a short while.
They reach out to the nearby farms and communities with donations and awareness campaigns.
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Any donations of toys, blankets, clothes or even non-perishable food will assist the volunteers greatly. These can be dropped off at the station or De Swardt can be contacted on 072-371-8993.
