The importance of effective victim support

The Risk of Secondary Victimisation

Recently I was told a story about a victim support worker at a police station who had been called in to assist a survivor of rape. As she guided the rape victim into one of the rooms for victim support she looked at the victim and said “ Undress and show me where he raped you” What is more shocking is that there are many more horror stories of people in positions of authority and power, such as victim support workers, EMS personnel, police and security officers treating victim of crime in such a way that may not be as degrading as this story, but is insensitive to the extreme. A form of secondary victimisation…

Secondary victimisation has been defined as being “exposure to further distress from the people or institutions from which one is supposed to be receiving assistance” (SAITS 2004) This could be described as insensitive treatment by service providers, doubt of the event, mistrust, judgement or in the words of a senior police inspector for Scotland Yard “ simply raising an eyebrow in disbelief” which could be construed as non validation of the experience or a form of victimisation.

It has become evident that the challenges facing communities regarding the effective management of survivors of trauma incidents and sexual violence are great. One of these challenges is the effective forensic examination of rape survivors and subsequent trauma management, a problem even at national level.

On a national level, the high levels of violent crime, especially social crimes such as rape, domestic violence and child abuse combined with low economic growth, high levels of poverty and widespread unemployment can lead to serious psychosocial consequences: (SAITS 2008)

Brian Mckendrick states in People and violence in South Africa, 1990 that “Simply by being a part of the (South African) society, the lives of all are touched- and tarnished- by violence: Perpetrating it, legally or illegally; being a victim of it, directly or indirectly and being a witness to it, first-hand or via the media.”

Violence effects change in our society, and our community and in the way we live life. Violence has a far reaching effect on the members of our society, whether one is the perpetrator, the victim or even if one reads or hears about violence. Violence changes our understanding of life. The trust we place in society and humankind is broken down, and we become numbed to the violence to the violence we see daily and come to accept violence as normal.

And so an unmistakable reality in South Africa is that crime and violence impacts in such a way that violence becomes for some the only method used to solve problems, for others an accepted way of life and for many a constant intrusion that disallows normal living, commonly known as traumatic stress.

Unfortunately, many South Africans are unable to access the psychosocial trauma support services for a number of reasons: Poverty, language and cultural barriers, Inadequate resources or services in the area, insufficient financial resources available to survivors, transport problems, and even if these barriers are overcome there are additional barriers faced at police stations where secondary victimization is more the norm rather than the exception.

According to the White paper on safety and security, there is a substantial need to “Improve the quality of service delivery to victims of crime” and that “victimization constitutes a violation of human rights. Empowerment of victims of crime therefore restores human rights and is an important element of police service delivery.” “International experience has shown that effective management of both direct and indirect victims and witnesses of crime is a vital part of successful police investigations. This is, in itself, integral to community policing which seeks to build relationships between the police and local communities.

It is here that victims and witnesses play an important role in assisting the police in the collection of evidence and through participating in the process of prosecution.

This means that improved victim support and empowerment can assist investigations and serve as a means of altering public perceptions of police effectiveness. Thus, the link between victim support and successful investigations is critical to improving service delivery and therefore to enhancing public confidence in the police.” (Department of Safety and Security, 1998)

So, quite simply put: “Improved victim support will improve our fight against crime!”

Our plan of action then should be to ensure that we mobilise members of the community, train them effectively in the field of victim support, empowerment and trauma support and then manage these important resources in such a way that we provide victims of crime an opportunity to come forward and receive care.

I was told this morning of VEP facilitators who had been going door to door in their villages (Phokeng, North West) and telling people about their trauma centre. What services they offer, how they can assist and what trauma is. The response to one such VEP volunteer was a young 18 year old male who had been struggling with anger issues, to recognise how his abusive father  had affected him as a child. This young man, is now willing to seek help, counselling and even return to school: a possible criminal will now become a productive member of society.

Victim support is vitally important, let us ensure then that we invest heavily in this field.

Philip Stoneman