BuaNews (Tshwane)
Gabi Khumalo
20 August 2008
Durban — The issue of rape management has come under the spotlight at the Victim Empowerment Programme (VEP) conference currently underway in Durban
Speaking under the topic 'Social Development's Anti Rape Strategy', Technical Adviser on rape management at the Research Triangle Institute Virginia Frances said services for rape victims in rural areas needed to be strengthened.
All stakeholders, including government departments, need to appropriately respond to the rape victim and referral systems need to be addressed, she said.
"The anti rape strategy addresses issues after the rape has occurred and it must focus more on preventative strategy. There is also a need for research to identify what is not known regarding rape patterns including political commitment and research mobilisation," Ms Frances said.
She further stressed the need to strengthen relationships between media, government and other stakeholders on programmes that address rape with success stories being communicated country wide.
She further highlighted that support of victims on anti-retroviral treatment needed to be strengthened.
The VEP is a critical part of the government's National Crime Prevention Strategy, which was officially launched in August 1998.
It aims to make the criminal justice process much more victim friendly, to minimise the negative effects of crime on victims - primarily through the implementation of support programmes and provision of services for victims of crime and violence.
The VEP has four key focus areas, namely the training of SAPS and officials from the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development to create greater victim sensitivity; establishing effective referral mechanisms between various government and civil society service providers to redress the effects of crime and violence on society; implementing a victim support and providing information to victims to facilitate easier access to the Criminal Justice System.
Meanwhile, the Victim Empowerment Programme (VEP) management team is important to ensuring the strengthening and sustainability of the programme, the conference heard.
Speaking on Tuesday, Thandeka Tshabalala from the University of South Africa's Centre for Applied Psychology said the programme would only be effective if VEP managers were highly motivated.
The VEP managers are stationed in each province and are responsible for implementing the programme at grass roots level.
They provide an interface between the public, government departments, business and civil society organisations and ensure partnerships are created between them.
Ms Tshabalala said therefore it was imperative that these VEP mangers were motivated to carry the message across to communities.
The three-day VEP conference, which started on Monday, is being hosted by the department of social development in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and European Union.
The conference will be used as a vehicle to reflect on progress with regard to achievement, challenges and limitations of the VEP since its inception ten years ago.
The deliberations at the conference will also assist future planning.
In supporting the VEP programme, the EU and UNODC pledged R20 million over a three year period to strengthen existing shelters and programmes.
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If every South African woman can expect to be raped twice in her lifetime,what kind of statistics are these,just one of the many reasons people are leaving the country.Forget about "empowerment"programes sounds good actually means nothing,but get people to vote for you.Hone in on the "real" problems that the administration itself has caused,it makes my blood boil as I realise more and more South Africans (although most do nor realise it) are progressively being insensitised to rape and its effects on the family.
Buy using the term "rape management" the impression is given that all is OK we just have to manage those who are raped better.What a load of utter rubbish,the goal is to almost totaly eliminate this scourge from society,reintroduce family values and not ANC values then,start handing down much stiffer sentences for this crime this is the start of the solution.I give it to you with tears in my eyes,gratis.