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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DONATE GOODS
 

  • Donate second-hand goods for us to use or raise funds with - we can use all your unwanted clothes, shoes, linen, furniture, household equipment etc.

  • Donate rape packs - each pack contains 1 new panty, 1 soap, 1 face cloth, 1 tooth brush, 1 toothpaste, 1 sanitary pad, plus something special such as a note, a sweet or a deodorant.

  • Provide refreshments for our counselling sessions - tea, coffee, milk, sugar, biscuits.

  • Donate a prize for our fundraising events or 400 items for our event goodie bags.

  • We have approximately 25 ladies at our support groups and you are welcome to send them cards, flowers, small gifts or any other encouragement.

  • Can you find 9 people to join you and throw them a tea party? Hosting a table for us at our yearly Fashion Show - a host lady invites 9 of her friends who each pay R120 a ticket, the host lady doesn't pay, but decorates her table and brings all the crockery, cutlery, eats and drinks for her table (next Fashion Show date: 2 October 2010, 09h00 till 12h30, Somerset College).

 
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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".