Welcome to the National Directory of Services Addressing Gender-based Violence. This Directory provides information and contact details for more than 200 organisations around the country assisting women who have experienced either rape or domestic violence. The Directory includes listings for counselling services, shelters, legal services and specialist police units, courts and 1-stop centres in each of South Africa’s nine provinces. It also provides information about organisations that provide training and/or conduct research or advocacy around violence against women.

 

Using the Directory

 

The Directory is divided according to the nine South African provinces. We have then sub-divided each province into municipal districts to assist people to find the service nearest them.

While some organisations in the Directory assist both adults and children, most cater primarily to the needs of adolescents and adults. If you need specialist help for younger children, we recommend that you contact your closest branch of Childline on their toll-free number 0800 05 55 55. Their contact details are included in the six provinces in which they have offices. Please also remember that many of the organisations in the Directory also assist men and boys who have been sexually assaulted. Other useful national helplines are the “Stop Women Abuse” hotline (0800 150 150) as well as the “Halt Elder Abuse Line” (HEAL)  0800 003 081 (office hours only).

If you require a sign language interpreter for Deaf clients, contacts are also provided for the provincial offices of the Deaf Federation of South Africa (DEAFSA). And while not numerous, we have also tried to include contact details for services assisting refugee women as well as gay and lesbian clients. Services for the latter two groups are located primarily in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

Finally, a Directory of this nature cannot remain accurate for very long and it would be greatly appreciated if individuals and organisations could assist us in continually updating this information. Please inform us of any mistakes in the information of the Directory, or any changes in contact details, as well as the introduction of new services in your region. Any updates to the Directory can be directed to the CSVR care of genderdirectory@csvr.org.za