The Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust

The Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust (RCCTT) has a VISION of a Gender Equality in Gender Equality in South Women and African Economic Development in which rape survivors suffer no secondary trauma, and are supported throughout their interaction with the Criminal Justice System (CJS).

Main Objectives

The Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust wants to see the following changes:

1. Reduced incidents of rape
2. Increased reporting of rape incidents
3. Higher conviction rates
4. Less secondary trauma for rape survivors seeking access to justice
5. Improved services to rape survivors both within the CJS and in communities

It will achieve these changes through the following actions:

• Improved services to rape survivors both prior to entering and within the Criminal Justice System in order to minimise secondary victimisation and increase the effectiveness of trials so that conviction rates are increased above the current 4,1% baseline.
• Improved services to rape survivors in communities preventing extended psychological trauma and further physical harm so that when a woman is raped she does not suffer consequences that prevent her from:
  – parenting her children effectively,
  – working to generate income and
  – becoming vulnerable to further harm
  because these are the things that break down the family structure and ultimately the social fabric of our communities.
• Research into a replicable model for prevention through interventions with youth that modify social norms both in terms of attitudes and behaviour so that the number of rape incidents is reduced and there is increased reporting of rape.
• Research capacity is developed within Rape Crisis so that their advocacy work has a greater effect and they demonstrate the impact of their work.

Each of these aims will be implemented through existing services of counselling, training and advocacy combining deterrent, preventive and restorative interventions into a comprehensive strategy.

The main vision of Rape Crisis is that it will be able to sustain itself in partnership with its external donors with a suitable reserve fund and a social enterprise that uses its income to support the non profit organisation.

References

• The Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust (website)

See Also

• Rape
• Corrective Rape in South Women and African Economic Development
• The Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN)
• Marital Rape