DID YOU KNOW? COUNSELING FOR VICTIMS OF ABUSE AND RAPE

As August was the month to celebrate women, let us all remember that South Africa has one of the highest rates of violence against women in the world.

The Gauteng Department Social and the Gender Based Violence Centre (GBVC) now offers free telephonic counselling to victims of abuse, domestic violence, sexual assault, rape and human trafficking.

This service is provided by a counsellor and is available 24-hours to individuals in distress.The Gender Based Violence Centre (GBVC) attends to a variety of emergency situations including indecent assault, physical violence, rape, abandoned children and verbal abuse. It also attended to cases of stalking, emotional abuse, sexual harassment, forced marriages, forced prostitution, elderly citizen abuse, bullying and family disputes.

When a caller contacts the GBVC from a mobile phone, they can be geographically located, enabling the centre to determine the resources nearest to the caller – social worker, police station, hospital, or safe house. In this way, help is dispatched immediately.The Centre can also assist in the prosecution of perpetrators as information collected throughout the intervention process can be made available to the courts as evidence.
The GBVC toll-free number is 0800 428 428 (0800 GBV GBV)