24 HOUR CRISIS LINE: 083 484 9409  
Tel: 021 852 5620 • Fax: 086 519 4358   
Email: help@crisiscentre.org.za  
Helderberg Hospital • Lourensford Road • Somerset West  
Western Cape • South Africa • 7129  
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HELPING SURVIVORS OF RAPE & ABUSE OVERCOME THEIR TRAUMA
THROUGH CARING COUNSELING

RCH NEWSLETTER

Dear Friend,

Every day women of all ages have to deal with sexual
violence and they need help.

Take a look at the top 5 ways to get involved with RCH in 2010.

Did you know that now you can donate to RCH online in over 30 currencies! Make a donation now to RCH. Click Here...
 

FEATURED TOPIC 

Be very careful leading up to the 2010 World Cup.

This article gives some more information about the awful human trafficking problem.  The networks involved have been targeting young people from poor rural areas , but now they are even targeting the teenagers in wealthier suburbs. Please spread the warning.   

HELP NEEDED IN 2010
Somerset Mall Charity Book Sale will be 27-30 May 2010 and we need your help collecting lots of second-hand books! Help us raise funds. Donate second-hand clothes, furniture, appliances, sports equipment etc to our second-hand shop! Join the excitement at the Fashion Show and host a table with 9 friends on 2 October 2010, more details right here! Contribute towards the RCH expenses for 2010, it¡¯s really easy with ammado. Please make a donation!
 

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

How to help a friend who is a survivor?

 

Send us a question

Validate their feelings - anger, pain, fear, etc. These are natural, healthy responses. They need to feel them, express them, and be heard.

Let the survivor talk - as much as or as little as they want to. LISTEN! Let the survivor know that you are open to hearing anything they may wish to share. Let the survivor take her/his time. It might not be easy for them to start talking about an event that they have kept silent about. The survivor might never want to talk to you about it. Respect their feelings and decisions. Recognise the courage it takes for a survivor to speak to anyone about it. It takes a great deal of courage to face up to fears and also to talk about any sexual experience, especially sexual abuse.

Validate the damage - join with the survivor in validating the damage and be clear that abuse is never the survivor's fault. No one asks to be abused and the blame lies with the abuser – only with the abuser.            More

  
 

LIFE TIP 

Anything that you have to hide, has power over you! Click here for more about power over your life!

This newsletter may contain links to, or advertisements concerning, other third party sites. Rape Crisis Helderberg is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of such other sites and encourages you to read their own privacy statements and terms of use when you visit such sites.
 
 
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After being raped, even if you do not open a case please:

  • Get evidence collected within 24 hours and no later than 72 hours (the police will take you to the rape crisis centre or hospital)
  • Get anti-retrovirals & emergency contraception within 72 hours (anti-retrovirals are free to rape victims at government hospitals)
  • Get antibiotic medication to prevent other sexually transmitted infections
  • Get counselling from a person trained in rape trauma counselling - it is never too late

You can get all of the above free at our office at Helderberg Hospital, Somerset West

Call 083 484 9409 (24 hours a day) or 021-852 5620 (office hours) or write to help@crisiscentre.org.za.

You do not have to go through this alone.

RAPE TRAUMA SYNDROME is a recognised response to rape and sexual abuse and it includes a variety of problems including various long-term consequences, the symptoms are similar to Post Traumatic Stress. Although many rape survivors suffer from the symptoms of Rape Trauma Syndrome, not all survivors respond to rape in the same way. It is important to treat each rape survivor as an individual and to try and understand what the rape means to that particular person. Coping with being raped may also be more difficult if family, friends and colleagues are not supportive and/or blame the survivor. After the shock has passed, some survivors try to act as if nothing has happened. This is their way of trying to block out the rape, because they feel that they won't be able to cope if they let themselves remember what happened to them. However, if a rape survivor is going to recover well from the impact of a rape, s/he must let her/himself remember the rape and feel whatever s/he is feeling inside. When s/he does start remembering and feeling, s/he will also start suffering from symptoms, but these usually improve gradually over time. It often helps a survivor to have counselling if s/he is experiencing symptoms that upset her/him. The effects of rape are long term. Rape survivors never forget being raped, but many learn how to deal with the memory. Studies have shown that the symptoms suffered by a rape survivor three months after a rape usually continue over the next three to four years, although they do seem to improve over time. Sadly South Africa holds the for the highest rapes world-wide. Interpol estimates that over 1 million women are raped each year in South Africa.
We want to help you to "PUT THE PIECES TOGETHER AGAIN".