Power struggles hamper service at rape centres

22 September 2015 - 02:02 By Aarti J Narsee

A crippling power struggle is playing out at "one-stop" rape centres across the country and this is hampering assistance to victims. The Thuthuzela Care Centres (TCCs) - regarded as "best practice models internationally" – are driven by the National Prosecuting Authority to provide essential health and counselling services to rape survivors.But, a new research paper by Lisa Vetten, from Wits Institute for Social and Economic Development (WISER) exposes these centres as "contested spaces" where battles are playing out between the NPA, the departments of Health, Social development and NGOs.Vetten’s paper was presented at the annual Sexual Violence Research Initiative conference in Stellenbosch last week and followed year-long research she completed early this year. She studied 27 NGOs that provide services to 39 centres around the country.She found that power struggles escalated to such an extent that in one case a physical fight broke out between an NPA centre co-ordinator and a health worker, which led to services at the centre being halted for four months.Officials from different departments that ought to work together constantly went head to head over who pays for services. One area of contention is counselling services.The Department of Health believes that Department of Social Development should foot the bill for counselling services provided by NGOs. But because NGOs are located in a health setting, the Social Development officials argue that Health should pay.Tension over hierarchy amongst doctors, nurses and counsellors also plays out in the centres, the research found. Doctors, in some instances, drive the process and allocate time to workers.In some cases doctors only give counsellors 15 minutes with the victims and in other cases the counsellor is the last person to see the victim. Emotional support services are often considered an "after thought" at the centres.Some doctors believe that rapid HIV testing is only work for nurses. NGOs are treated as the "personal family assistant" by doctors, the research noted.Lay counsellors - who bear the brunt of providing emotional support services to victims - enjoy the least "status and authority" at the centres.They are not given the space or the privacy to help rape victims.Nurses often disrupted counselling sessions by walking through doors, despite the "do not disturb" signs."TCCs are supposed to talk to each other and hold each other mutually accountable. But it just turns into finger pointing. If relationships are not good there can be no integrated services," said Vetten.The research was used to inform the booklet on "Guidelines and standards for the provision of support to rape survivors in acute stage of trauma" which was officially launched at the conference this week by Networking HIV/AIDS Community of South Africa (NACOSA).The guide - the first of its kind in South Africa - will assist lay counsellors in dealing with rape victims.On Friday, Lumka Oliphant, spokesperson for the department of social development, said: "The funding is based on [the departments] mandate and policies. The National Policy Guidelines for Victim Empowerment clarify the roles and responsibilities of the different stakeholders." She added that the department has not received any complaints on poor treatment of lay counsellors...

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