WHEN government fails to fight sexual violence, women like Poppy Makgobatlou suffer the most.
Makgobatlou is a survivor of domestic abuse and sexual violence. It took her 29 years to break the cycle of repeated assault by her husband.
She’s on the cover of Untreated Violence, the Médecins Sans Frontières report released yesterday. It examines the critical gaps in medical and clinical forensic care for survivors of sexual violence in South Africa.
“I still have a broken shoulder from what my husband did to me. Only in February this year did he decide to leave me. When I got the court summons I knew I was free.”
Makgobatlou. lent her face, name and testimony to the report because she said “keeping quiet is protecting us from nothing”.
Makgobatlou lives in Bapong, Rustenburg where Médecins Sans Frontières runs its Kgomotso Care Centre where sexual violence victims are helped to become survivors.
They are meant to be treated with dignity and kindness and professionally dealt with to undergo medical and forensic treatment. They can have a shower, receive a comfort care package and psychological counselling and access to a police officer.
From work done in the Platinum Belt, staff recognised an epidemic of rape (one in four women surveyed had been raped in her lifetime).
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Equally troubling were statistics on the staggering absence of a comprehensive care package for survivors and barriers to accessing care.
The new report enlarges the Rustenburg focus to a national snapshot of services and facilities.
It’s a checklist for what is a government prescribed comprehensive package of care including HIV-testing, post-exposure prophylaxis and prophylaxis for sexually transmitted infections, emergency contraception, a tetanus and hepatitis B vaccination and information on termination of pregnancy.
A rape survivor should also have access to psychological counselling assistance in reporting to police and support should the case go to court.
Government policy and intent has not lived up to reality. The report found that of the 249 designated treatment and care facilities surveyed, 73% reported they did not provide at least one essential service.
There are 265 designated care facilities in the country, including 55 Thutuzela Care Centres or “one-stop shops” for comprehensive care.
The Médecins Sans Frontières national mapping showed that only 27% of facilities had access to a psychologist, 20% did not collect clinical forensic evidence for court and 85% of facilities were based in hospitals, not always easily accessible or victim-friendly.
“By not giving proper care to victims of sexual violence we are missing an opportunity to reduce their trauma and to prevent the spread of HIV/Aids,” said Dr Amir Shroufi, of Médecins Sans Frontières. “This report is just scratching the surface of what is wrong.” –
