Thuthuzela is a Xhosa word for comfort, which is what the Thuthuzela Care Centre (TCC) in Welkom offers sexual violence survivors.
The TCC is a tool used by the government to combat sexual violence, with its main purpose offering assistance to victims of gender-based violence (GBV).
The centre was started in 2012 as a partnership between the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) Sexual Offences and Community Affairs unit (Sosca) and different stakeholders after it was realised how rife GBV is.
The different government departments involved each play a vital role in assisting victims at the centre; the Department of Health provides the centre with nurses to examine the victims; and the Department of Social Development provides shelter and social workers for counselling.
The police works very much hand in hand with the centre by transporting victims to the center after opening a case to get further assistance.
Childline assists with trauma counselling and walk-in counselling for those who go directly to the centre instead of the police, as it is a one-stop centre. All the services provided by the centre are free of charge.
Victims are first seen by the site coordinator to be informed of the services provided, trauma counselling is provided after meeting the coordinator, then the victim will be taken to the nurses for examination. After examination the victim will be informed of their rights and court processes by the centre advocate.
There have been cases of domestic violence, rape, sexual assault, and not on many occasions, human trafficking.
Male victims and survivors can also receive help at the centre, with a few cases were men and young boys were assisted.
“GBV also includes males. We do not discriminate anyone by their colour, race, or gender in this centre. A victims is someone that has been harmed or injured, which can also be males or young boys. We assist anyone who needs assistance here,” said Rhee Skhosana, centre coordinator.
There is assured confidentiality and respect from the staff at the centre to the victims X the Victims’ Charter of Rights protects the victims.
For any information or assistance regarding the centre, contact the centre coordinator, Skhosana, on 078-919-5675.
