During 2018 we were registered as an official Emergency Overnight Shelter by the Department of Social Development, enabling the Centre to upgrade our overnight shelter facilities and offer 24-hour care to victims of abuse. In 2023, we were able to upgrade our White Door Centre, ensuring that all clients feel safe, loved and cared for while in our hands. Our ‘little home’ has a bedroom, a caretaker’s room, a sitting room, full disabled bathroom with a baby changing station, a kitchen and a dining area.

During 2023, 37 victims were provided with counselling, medical care and shelter until long-term solutions to their safety had been secured.

• Decentralisation of Gender Based Violence services in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, including our semi-rural town of Howick.
• Access to medical, legal and psychosocial support services under one roof reducing secondary victimization.
• Reduction of long distances to be travelled by victims before accessing assistance.
• Reduction in the influx of cases to Edendale TCC and Northdale State hospitals.
• Improvement of the management of sexual violence cases by different stakeholders such as the Police, Department of Health and National Prosecuting Authority.
• Increased access to medical treatment required by victims e.g. Antiretrovirals to prevent HIV infection.
• Strengthen educational programs for sexual violence survivors which will empower them with information and thereby increase reporting of cases.
• Working with the local clinic to provide more care to those who need it.

Angels’ Care has employed a Forensic Nurse and an Enrolled Nurse, who, together, provide general health care to all children who attend programs at the Centre. Their services include:

• Medical preparation of the patient/survivor such as vital signs, relevant tests (pregnancy, HIV, STI) and specimen-taking
• Signing of consent forms, and medical orientation as stipulated by National and provincial DoH protocols
• Treatment of, and referral when necessary, of sick children and staff members to the clinic.
• Treatment of children with minor ailments.
• Monthly developmental status assessments for all children who attend educational programmes, including constant monitoring of their height, weight and head circumference; all measures which assist in determining whether the child is reaching age-appropriate milestones or may be malnourished or chronically ill
• All child vaccinations are up-to-date.
• Physical examination and treatment of victims of sexual or physical assault and neglect.
• Medical screening, treatment and counselling for children suffering from HIV and TB.
• Contraceptive services for young women.
• Support for young mothers and their babies.

Important Phone Numbers

Angels Care Centre: 033-330 3553

Angels’ Care Emergency Number: 063 892 0358

SAPS: 1011

Edendale TCC: 033-395 4325

Location

The Crisis Centre is within the Angels’ Care Centre ground.  It is situated at 38 Morling Street, Howick, Kwa-Zulu Natal – directly across the road from Howick SAPS. The centre is also a few meters away from the local government clinic.

What should I do if I am a victim of rape or gender based violence?

If you have been raped it is important to get to a health care facility (crisis centre) as quickly as possible to:

• Obtain medical care, treatment and advice
• Collect evidence to support your legal case

To assist in the collection of DNA evidence, victims of sexual assault should:

• NOT change their clothing
• NOT shower or wash any part of their body
• REPORT the incident to the police (This will occur at the Centre)
• GO to a medical doctor within 48 hours for DNA evidence to be collected (This will take place at the Centre)

1. On arrival at the facility a nurse and social worker will provide information to the survivor regarding the procedures to be performed and she/he (or their caregiver) will sign a consent form for the medical examination.
2. A social worker or forensic nurse will counsel the survivor so that she/he feels at ease and knows that she/he is in a protected, caring environment.
3. A trained doctor or professional nurse will conduct a medical examination and collect physical evidence if necessary.
4. The survivor will be provided with the opportunity to have a shower and change his/her clothes (care packs with toiletries and a change of clothing will be provided).
5. An investigating officer (FCS) will be called to take a statement and open a case. The investigating officer should take receipt of evidence collection kit/s, the J88, the section 212(4) statements as well as the SAP 308 from the health care practitioner who have completed the medical examination and make a statement to this effect.
6. The survivor will receive appropriate medication i.e. morning after pill, 28 days of anti-retroviral treatment, antibiotics for sexually transmitted diseases, hepatitis B vaccine, anti-tetanus. Follow up medical appointments are made after 14 days and 6 weeks after the initial examination.
7. On-going counselling sessions will be arranged.
8. SAPS or the care centre will transport the survivor home or to a place of safety.
9. The SAPS will report back to the survivor if they are required to give evidence in court. If so, the National Prosecuting Authority will continue with the court process.

What Facilities are offered at the Centre?

• Reception/waiting area
• Examination room
• Showers and toilets
• Administration office
• Child friendly room for statement taking and counselling
• Recovery room- somewhere to spend the night if necessary
• Short stay crisis facility
• Kitchen area

What Services will be offered at the Centre?

• Counselling services
• Medical treatment and collection of forensic evidence when necessary. A professional nurse will be available seven days a week and someone on call after hours
• Legal intervention. The Centre will provide a direct link with courts through cooperating with investigating officers and the National Prosecuting Authority
• Caregivers- onsite 24 hours
• Police officer- on call 24 hours

Case 1

A 10-year-old female child was physically abused by a relative, who intended to be her guardian and take care of her. The child concerned was a pupil at Lions River Primary School in grade 4. In August 2023 our social worker received a call from the School Principal reporting the alleged physical abuse involving the child concerned. The matter was immediately investigated by our social worker. The physical and verbal evidence all indicated a case of severe child abuse. The girl had obtained a swollen black eye on the left side and a broken tooth through the beating she received from her guardian as she apparently had not prepared and cooked a meal as instructed. That night, due to the unsafe and threatening environment in which the child was residing, she was kept at Angels Care Centre’s emergency overnight facility (White Door Centre) to ensure her ongoing safety and protection.

A case of physical assault was opened at the Howick SAPS. Furthermore, the child was also taken to Northdale Hospital, as our resident nurse was not available on the day, for medical attention, and a J88, a physical evidence examination report was completed. Due to the dire home circumstances, it was recommended that the child concerned should subsequently be placed back under the care of her biological mother who currently resides in Gauteng Province where she would be safe, protected and able to continue attending school to ensure her educational rights were not abruptly disrupted. Sadly, the perpetrator was not arrested by the SAPS but rather instructed to simply undergo a Parental Skills Programme.

Despite the perpetrator not being formally held accountable, our crisis care team successfully restored the child’s mental and physical health, and ensured she now continues her life in a safe loving environment.

Case 2

A 14-year-old girl was brought to Angels Care Centre by our community care workers after they heard she had a history of being sexually abused by man known to both her and the family. She divulged to our social worker that while she was preparing to go to school early in the morning, a man came by her house and asked for some water to drink. She opened the door for him in order to give him water and did not initially feel threatened as she knew him. Once he was inside the house, he instructed her at knifepoint to go and lie in her bed and raped her.

When examined thoroughly by our forensic nursing sister she confirmed that her injuries were consistent with what she had told the social worker. Our forensic nurse then collected physical evidence, including DNA, and completed the compulsory J88 form for the South African Police Services (SAPS) and National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). The nurse also checked her vital signs and accompanied her to the Howick Clinic for HIV testing and Post post-exposure prophylaxis. The child has subsequently received ongoing counselling and emotional support. The case is ongoing and our forensic nurse will testify in the court proceedings.