1. What is a victim?
2. What is victim empowerment?
3. How does the government plan to promote victim empowerment?
4. Where can all these victim empowerment services be accessed?

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A victim is any person who suffered physical or psychological harm or economic loss because of the criminal acts of others.

The definition also includes people whose human rights were violated as a result of what someone - usually a person or a group of people in power - did or failed to do.

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Victim empowerment refers to the idea that all people, not just professionals, have the skills and competencies they need to help others and themselves cope better with crime and violence.

By implication, this means that the fight against crime and against the effects of crime is everyone's responsibility. In keeping with this idea, the government is focusing on:

• Promoting partnerships between various state bodies, and between the state, non-government organisations, business, volunteers, religious bodies and academia to improve participation, co-operation and public awareness of crime-fighting initiatives and victim services.
• Viewing crime as a social issue, not a security issue.
• Crime prevention, rather than crime control.

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1. By putting the needs and rights of the victim first
2. By addressing the needs of perpetrators
3. By focusing more on prevention
4. By promoting public awareness

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1. By putting the needs and rights of the victim first
   The state and non-governmental organisations offer a number of services for the men, women and children who have been victims of crime and violence. The services include:

   Counselling services for the victims of rape and domestic violence
   Prevention and support services for sexual harassment
   Pastoral counselling
   Child abuse services
   Marriage and divorce services
   Pregnancy services
   HIV/Aids services
   Gay and lesbian services
   Disability services
   Substance abuse services
   Suicide services
   Services for older people

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2. By addressing the needs of perpetrators
   Perpetrator services

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3. By focusing more on prevention
   Empowerment of women
   Advocacy work on rights and responsibilities of vulnerable groups
   Preventative work with men and boys
   Training and public education
   Economic Empowerment Services
   Legal support and advice
   Family preservation programmes

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4. By promoting public awareness
   Gender sensitivity training
   Domestic violence training
   Elder abuse training
   16 Days of Activism
   Training of rural women on domestic violence
   Parenting skills programmes
   Observing national and international days such as International Women's Day (8 March), International Family Day (15 May), Youth Day (16 June) and National Women's Day (9 August).

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The services and programmes listed above are mostly offered by non-profit organisations that either have government funding or are endorsed by government.

Where there is no link to follow, click here to download the Directory of Services to Victims of Violence, a comprehensive list of all the facilities that offer Victim Empowerment services, divided according to the type of service rendered.